pain again after apparently successful back surgery

[lester5678]

Had disc herniation at L4-5. Was in spine midline?
Had severe stenosis with usual nerve pain. Surgery went well. I could tell he fixed the problem as soon as I awoke. Like my last spine surgery, results were immediate and at 2 day mark symptoms came back due to post op swelling. After another 3 days my back felt good enough to stop all pain meds. This time however some nerve pain has returned. I don't remember this happening last time. Is it normal to have symptoms come and go within 2 weeks of surgery. I do still have golfball sized knot around incision area so I assume there is still swelling inside.

Thanks for your input.

[judylabrador]

A related discussion, help in NC was started.

[Rizla1]

My disc broke in the lumber area,I had lower back surgery, the orthopaedic surgeon did a compression of the spinal cord and bone fusion, removed the broken disc. I am in the 4th week of my  6 weeks recovery treatment. I am on epleptin 300 mg 3 x a day and I take synaleve or arcoxia 90 mg when in severe pain. The pain runs down my leg to my toes and sides of the right foot. The foot feels numb and tender at times like pins and needles and I cannot even touch it. I still have the foot drop on the right leg. At times I limp on the right foot as I cannot put pressure on the big toe due to pain. Will this and the pain eventually go away? Do I need physio?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
First of all I am happy that the surgery went well! Yes, it is normal to have pain on and off after surgery and at times may mimic the original symptoms. How long the pain will last depends on the type of surgery performed.  However, certain things should be check as you have a soft tissue swelling. These factors can also contribute to pain and need to be addressed.

The soft tissue swelling (golf ball size) under your incision area can be a contusion (which is the expected level of inflammation post incision) or it could be a localized collection of blood (hematoma), pus (abscess) or bunching of soft tissue or muscles. All these can cause varying degree of pain. So, please get this evaluated.

Another possibility is a nerve impingement. The impingement could be due to soft tissue swelling or due to a complication of surgery or because an original stenosis causing nerve impingement could not be fully corrected by surgery. Please discuss with your doctor.

The earlier the mobilization post spine surgery, the better is the pain control. Once the soft tissue and muscles move, they help drain the inflammatory fluid and also remove stiffness and pain at the joints involved in the operation. So consult your physiotherapist regarding this.

I sincerely hope you will find this information useful in alleviating your post operative pain. Hope you get well soon! Good Luck and take care!