Surgical Procedures

Most spine problems can be treated without surgery. However, your spine care team may suggest surgery as a good option for relieving your symptoms.

Surgical Procedures

• Microdiscectomy - Removing part of a damaged spinal disc using microscopically enhanced techniques.
• Laminotomy (decompression) - Cutting away part of a vertebra to relieve pressure on a nerve or the spinal cord.
• Spinal Fusion - Joining (fusing) two vertebrae so that there’s no movement between them.
• Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) - Removing a disc in the neck (cervical) region of your spine and fusing the vertebrae above and below it.
• Vertebroplasty - Injecting special cement into a collapsed vertebra to stabilize and support the damaged bone.
• Kyphoplasty - Injecting a special balloon and cement into a collapsed vertebra. The balloon is inflated inside the vertebra to restore the original height of the bone, and the cement helps preserve this shape after the balloon is removed.
• Total Disc Replacement (Arthroplasty) - Removing all or most of a damaged spinal disc and replacing it with an artificial disc to help preserve motion between two vertebrae. Currently, McKay-Dee Hospital Center is the only provider of this service within the Intermountain Healthcare system.