Neurosurgery is a specialized field of surgery for the treatment of diseases or conditions of the central nervous system (CNS) and spine. Neurosurgery is the surgical specialization that treats diseases and disorders of the brain and spinal cord. Back pain can sometimes produce neurological symptoms such as numbness, muscle weakness, and loss of bowel and bladder control due to dysfunction at the nerve root.
These symptoms are indicators that neurosurgery is required to treat the underlying cause of back pain as opposed to conservative treatments. Procedures to treat back pain under the realm of neurosurgery include discectomy, laminectomy, and spinal fusion surgery.
In neurosurgery, there is a higher risk of further nerve damage and infection which may result in paralysis..
Symptoms
Neurological symptoms may accompany other symptoms, which vary depending on the underlying disease, disorder or condition. Neurological symptoms are diverse because the nervous system governs or participates in a number of functions as well as body systems, including control of body temperature, blood pressure, muscles, digestion and appetite, movement, and sight.
Body-wide symptoms that may occur with neurological symptoms Neurological symptoms that may accompany other symptoms affecting the nervous system including: Altered smell or taste, Burning feeling, Confusion or cognitive changes, Fainting, lethargy, or change in your level of consciousness, Involuntary muscle contractions (dystonia), Loss of balance, Muscle weakness, Numbness, Pain from an origin that does not usually cause pain or that follows the course of a specific nerve, Paralysis or inability to move a body part, Pins-and-needles (prickling) sensation, Sensitivity, Tingling.
Gastrointestinal symptoms that may occur along with nerve symptoms. Neurological symptoms may accompany symptoms related to the digestive system including: Difficulty chewing, Digestive problems, Loss of bladder or bowel control, Nausea with or without vomiting.Garbled or slurred speech or inability to speak, Loss of muscle coordination, Respiratory or breathing problems, such as shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, labored breathing, wheezing, not breathing, choking Seizures, Sudden paralysis or inability to move a body part,
Vision changes or sudden blindness.
Causes
The causes of neurological symptoms are as diverse as the nervous system itself. A common origin for neurological symptoms is the peripheral nervous system, which transmits sensory signals from the rest of the body to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
Traumatic causes of neurological symptoms. Neurological symptoms may be caused by trauma or injury such as, Burns, Compression, crushing or, severing of nerves, Detachment of nerves from the spinal cord, Electrical injury, Fracture or dislocation of a bone, Gunshot injury,
Physical assault, Slipped vertebral disks or other spine conditions.
Neurological symptoms can also be caused by infections or autoimmune diseases including, Epstein-Barr virus infection, Guillain-Barré syndrome (autoimmune nerve disorder), Hepatitis C, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, Lyme disease (inflammatory bacterial disease spread by ticks), Other bacterial and viral infections of the brain or meninges (membranes lining the brain and spinal cord),
Systemic lupus erythematosus (disorder in which the body attacks its own healthy cells and tissues), Varicella-zoster virus infection (virus that causes chickenpox and shingles)
Treatment and Surgical Procedures
Neurosurgery may be employed to treat a wide assortment of disorders involving the nervous system, from the brain to nerve endings in the fingers and toes. Neurosurgery may involve treatment of epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and psychiatric disorders, as well as herniated disks of the spinal column and aneurysms that affect the nervous system. Causes of neurosurgical problems can be injury, tumors, infectious diseases, or congenital disorders.
CyberKnife, Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Gamma Knife, Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, Nerve Decompression, Nerve Reconstruction