Post-laminectomy Syndrome (also: Failed Back Surgery Syndrome — FBSS; Failed Back Syndrome)
Word parts:
- post- (Latin post, “after, behind”)
- lamin/o- (Latin lamina, “thin plate/layer” — the flattened portion of the vertebral arch)
- -ectomy (Greek ek- “out” + temnein “to cut” → excision, surgical removal)
Literal construction: the condition occurring after surgical removal of a vertebral lamina.
Definition:
Persistent, recurrent, or newly developed low back pain — with or without radiation into one or both legs (radicular pain) — following one or more lumbar spine operations intended to relieve the patient’s original symptoms. The term originated with laminectomy specifically, but is now used more broadly, often interchangeably with “failed back surgery syndrome,” for this outcome after any lumbar procedure (discectomy, fusion, etc.). It denotes a clinical presentation rather than a single diagnosis.
Source:
This entry, in close to the wording above, appears in Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary and Stedman’s Medical Dictionary under “postlaminectomy syndrome,” with Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary also covering “failed back syndrome” as a related entry.