The lumbar spine is located in the lower back, where the spine curves inward toward the abdomen.

Lumbar decompression surgery is used to treat compressed nerves in the lower (lumbar) spine when non-surgical treatments, from medications to physical therapy, have failed to relieve the pain or numbness the patient experiences.

This type of surgery aims to improve painful symptoms caused by pressure on the nerves in the spine. Other symptoms may include:

• Loss of bowel or bladder control
• Muscle weakness
• Numbness or tingling in limbs, most often on both sides of the body
• Pain radiating down one or both legs

Lumbar decompression surgery is often used to treat:

• Spinal Stenosis – narrowing of a section of the spinal column, which puts pressure on the nerves inside
• A slipped disc and sciatica – where a damaged spinal disc presses down on an underlying nerve
• Spinal Injuries – such as a fracture or the swelling of tissue
• Metastatic spinal cord compression – where cancer in one part of the body, such as the lungs, spreads into the spine and presses on the spinal cord or nerves