Back surgery (spinal surgery) at The Montefiore Hospital

At The Montefiore Hospital, our orthopaedic (bone and muscle) consultants perform a wide range of surgical treatments 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 The Montefiore 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:

• Minimally invasive discectomy, which uses smaller incisions than traditional techniques, intended to improve recovery time
• Interspinous distraction can be used for lumbar spinal stenosis, where a device is implanted between two vertebrae to relieve a trapped or compressed nerve
• Synthetic bone substitutes for spinal fusion so there’s no need to remove and use bone from elsewhere in your body

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

Getting here

The Montefiore Hospital is approximately a 15 minute walk or a five minute taxi journey from both Hove and Brighton railway stations.

Your consultations

During your consultations, you’ll meet one of our expert consultants who’ll:

• 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

All of your consultations will take place in one of our eight consultation rooms which are all accessible making things easier for you if you have difficulty walking. These consultations give you an opportunity to ask questions and get advice about what’s best for you.

Once you’ve decided to go ahead with back surgery, your consultant and your physiotherapist will explain your recovery plan.

When you come in for your operation, you’ll be with us for one to four days. You’ll stay in one of our large, bright, private en-suite rooms, which has a locked space for your things and entertainment to keep you occupied as you start your recovery.

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

Here’s what will happen on the day of your back surgery:

• You’ll meet your surgery team and anaesthetist
• Your anaesthetist will administer the general anaesthetic, which will send you to sleep for the operation
• Once it’s taken effect, your surgeon will make the first incision and begin your operation

You’ll start your recovery back in your private room. All of our private rooms have:

• TV
• En-suite
• Window
• Armchair

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: