Open back surgery, usually in the form of a laminectomy, is a procedure in which the patient receives a general anesthetic and a portion of the back is opened for surgical work. The surgeon may have to remove the portion of the backbone known as the lamina in order to reach the damaged disc and take out the portion that is causing problems. If the back is unstable in that area, the doctor may need to perform a fusion, taking some bone from another area of the patient's body (usually the hip) and grafting it into place. These bone fragments then fuse or grow together. This improves the stability and helps ease pain, but unfortunately does restrict the movement of that part of the spine. It may be necessary to utilize spine instrumentation to aid in the fusion process.

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