Back surgery (spinal surgery) at Spire Cambridge Lea Hospital

At Spire Cambridge Lea 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 Cambridge Lea Hospital, our consultants are highly skilled at performing back surgery for a variety of conditions. Your consultant will be able to recommend the best type of surgery for your needs. This may include one or more of the following:

• Discectomy – to remove part of a slipped disc and relieve associated symptoms
• Laminectomy – to remove part of a vertebra to relieve pressure on the spinal cord
• Spinal fusion – to strengthen your back

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
• Synthetic bone substitutes are available which means your consultant doesn’t need to remove bone from elsewhere in your body to fuse your vertebrae

At Spire Cambridge Lea Hospital, we have high-quality facilities, including three operating theatres with laminar flow. These theatres regulate air flow to reduce the risk of infection.

Getting here

We’re 15 minutes from Cambridge train station, which has direct links into London's King's Cross and Liverpool Street stations. We have free on-site parking for you and your visitors.

Your consultations

Your initial consultation will take place in one of our 22 accessible consultation rooms, so don’t worry if you have difficulty walking. During your consultations, we’ll:

• Ask about your medical history
• Say whether you need an X-ray, and/or an MRI or CT scan so your consultant can examine your back in more detail if you haven’t been diagnosed yet
• Tell you about the particular surgical method your consultant recommends and what it'll involve
• Explain about the general anaesthetic and how it may affect you
• Give you a chance to ask any questions you have about your surgery

During your time with us you’ll stay in one of our 44 large, bright, private rooms. We expect you to be here for between one and four days, dependent on what type of procedure you undergo.

For your own comfort and that of your visitors, we have a waiting room which they can use while you're undergoing your operation.

For your procedure you’ll be given a general anaesthetic, so you’ll be asleep for the operation.

You’ll start your recovery in your private room, which has:

• TV
• En-suite
• Freeview
• Chair
• WiFi
• Nurse-call system

After surgery, you’ll probably feel some pain or discomfort – this is normal after surgery. Our nursing team will give you painkillers to help you with this and may provide medications to prevent infection and reduce the risk of clotting.

One of our physiotherapists will help get you moving again and provide you with some exercises you can do throughout your recovery to help you get the best possible outcome.

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