Back pain is considered chronic when this symptom lasts three or more months. The causes of chronic pain can be various disorders and diseases of the spine, as well as the consequences of injuries.

Surgical treatment of chronic back pain is recommended in cases where conservative pain management of the spine did not lead to the expected result, and due to persistent pain, the quality of life of the patient has decreased.

Two types of chronic pain require surgery, depending on the cause. In particular:
- Chronic pain associated with a herniated disk, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, as well as fractures and various injuries of the spine with nerve grazing.
- Chronic pain is caused by degenerative diseases of the intervertebral disks, which are associated with the natural processes of disk wear with age.

When Is Surgical Treatment Indicated for Chronic Back Pain?
Herniated disk
A common disease of the spine, in which, due to the extrusion of the inner part of the disk, the nerve roots, the spinal cord, and the vertebrae located in the part of the spine where the hernia has formed can suffer. As a result of the development of a herniated disk, other serious diseases of the spine may occur. They may be accompanied by pain.

The operation is indicated for patients when other therapy methods have not led to the expected result and the disease progresses, accompanied by chronic pain and serious neurological disorders.

The complexity of the pathological process depends on the method of surgical treatment, which is necessary to remove a herniated disk in each individual case of the disease.

Surgical treatment of a herniated disk is recommended in the following cases:
- When there is a need to remove parts of the intervertebral disk that have moved outward, a microdiscectomy is performed;
- If the pain syndrome associated with nerve compression as a result of a herniated disk is eliminated, it seems possible by removing one or two vertebral arches, and a laminectomy is performed.
- With minor damage to the outer part of the disk (annulus fibrosus), vertebroplasty is performed when the disk can be restored. This type of operation involves the restoration of a section of the disc at the site of the rupture using a special substance –– bone cement.
- Endoprosthetic is carried out in the most severe cases of the disease when a herniated disk has led to irreversible problems in the spine.

Degenerative diseases of the intervertebral disks
Back pain for most older people, which is associated with degenerative diseases of the intervertebral disks, is one of the most common unpleasant cases of spinal diseases. Degenerative changes in the intervertebral disk occur as a result of the natural aging process, but for some people, this process can be especially painful, significantly reducing their quality of life.

As a result of degenerative changes in the intervertebral disks, pathologies such as disk protrusion (manifested with a painful muscular tonic syndrome), hernia (pain syndrome as a result of compression of the spinal cord structure), sequestered hernia (compression of nerve structures as a result of the location of a free fragment of the intervertebral disk in the spinal canal above or below the corresponding intervertebral disk).

The surgery, in this case, is used to eliminate compression of the nerve roots, spinal cord, and blood vessels using modern minimally invasive surgical techniques to treat diseases of the spine. Often in the surgical treatment of degenerative changes in the intervertebral disks, there is a need to install a special stabilization system (a metal structure made of hypoallergenic material) to maintain the spine in the correct natural shape.