Laminectomy

A surgical procedure where part or all of the lamina, the bony arch of a vertebra - bones that make up the spinal cord, is removed to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or nerves. This is often done to treat conditions like spinal stenosis, where the spinal canal narrows, or to address nerve compression from other issues like disc problems, cysts or bone spurs.

Who is a Candidate?

Patients with spinal canal narrowing (spinal stenosis) causing nerve compression.

Common indications:

• Severe back pain radiating to legs.
• Numbness, tingling, or weakness in the lower limbs.
• Failure of conservative treatments such as physiotherapy, medications, or injections.

Imaging (MRI or CT) must confirm compression correlating with clinical symptoms.

Recovery Timeline

May vary with provider

• Hospital stay: Usually 1–4 days depending on complexity
• Early recovery: Walking encouraged within 1 day; light activities resumed within a week
• Rehabilitation: Physiotherapy for strengthening and posture begins soon after discharge
• Return to work: Desk jobs: ~4–6 weeks; manual labour: ~8–12 weeks
• Full recovery: 3–6 months for most patients; improvement may continue up to 12 months.

Benefits

• Relieves pressure on spinal nerves, reducing leg pain and improving mobility
• Can improve walking tolerance and daily function
• Often highly effective in patients with nerve compression
• Minimally invasive options are available for select patients.

Risks

• Infection, bleeding, blood clots
• Nerve injury (weakness, numbness, or paralysis in rare cases)
• Spinal instability if multiple levels are removed
• Persistent pain or recurrence of symptoms.

This is just an outline. Your specialist orthopaedic surgeon will be able to talk to you about these issues in more detail and make sure that there is informed consent.

Laminectomy is primarily aimed at relieving nerve compression rather than curing degenerative spine disease, and outcomes are best when symptoms clearly correlate with imaging findings.