Back surgery (spinal surgery) at Spire St Anthony's Hospital

At Spire St Anthony’s Hospital, our orthopaedic (bone and muscle) consultants and neurosurgeons have wide experience in performing back surgery in our clean and modern facilities. They’ll offer you a treatment and recovery plan that’s personalised to you, to relieve your symptoms and help you get back to your everyday activities. We have many expert nurses and physiotherapists who’ll provide you with the aftercare you need to make a full recovery.

At Spire St Anthony’s Hospital, we offer trusted and clinically proven surgical techniques for a variety of conditions. Your consultant will be able to recommend which type of surgery is best for you. This may include one or more of the following:

• Discectomy – used to treat a slipped disc by removing a damaged or worn disc
• Laminectomy – used to relieve pressure on the spinal cord by removing part of a protruding or fractured vertebra
• Spinal fusion – used to strengthen your back when you have wear and tear or damage

We’re able to offer surgical techniques and innovations that have been designed to improve outcomes. These include:

• If your consultant thinks it’s right for you, they may perform a minimally invasive back surgery – this usually means a faster recovery time while still achieving the same outcomes.
• Interspinous distraction – an implant is inserted between two vertebrae to relieve pressure the affected nerve
• Synthetic bone substitutes are available which means your consultant doesn’t need to remove bone from elsewhere in your body to fuse your vertebrae

We also have three laminar flow operating theatres that regulate air flow to minimise the risk of infection.

How to find us

Spire St Anthony's Hospital is close to Sutton and Epsom. Sutton and Cheam stations are both on the Victoria and London Bridge line. Worcester Park station is on the Waterloo to Epsom line. We have free on-site parking available for you and your visitors.

Your consultations

As a first step, you’ll have an appointment with one of our experienced consultants. This will be in one of our 19 accessible consultation rooms so there’s no need to worry if you have mobility difficulties. This provides you with an opportunity to talk openly about your condition and the procedure with your consultant. During the appointment, your consultant will:

• Discuss your medical history
• Recommend tests and scans if required, such as an X-ray, an MRI or a CT scan, so they can look at your back in more detail
• Discuss which type of surgery you’ll need for your condition and what it’ll involve
• Explain about the general anaesthetic and how it may affect you

On the day of your procedure, you’ll meet your healthcare team, including your anaesthetist and your consultant again. You’ll be shown to one of our 92 large, bright, private rooms. You’ll be with us for one to four days, depending on the type of surgery you have.

If you’ve come with a friend or family member, they’re welcome to wait in our lounge or restaurant while you have your operation.

Before surgery, you’ll be given a general anaesthetic, so you’ll be unconscious throughout the procedure. Once it’s taken effect, your consultant will begin your surgery.

Following your surgery, you’ll begin your recovery in one of our private rooms, all of which contain:

• TV
• En-suite
• Window
• Armchair
• Telephone

You may feel discomfort following your procedure, but your nursing team will make sure you have pain relief medication to help manage this. They’ll also be able to advise you on over-the-counter pain relief you can use while at home.

Physiotherapy also plays an important role in your recovery so we have a dedicated physiotherapy team who can provide you with tailored exercises to help you get the most from your operation.

Although everybody’s different and you should always follow your consultant’s advice, here’s a typical recovery timeline for back surgery: