Surgeons dramatically overestimate the effectiveness of surgery. Specifically, surgeons predict at least moderate improvement for almost all patients undergoing back surgery, yet nearly 40 percent of patients experience little or no improvement one year after their operation. These findings are from a just published study in the journal Spine.
Are any of your friends, family members or co-workers considering back surgery? If so, Dr. Ekengren urges you to share this vital research with them.
Who conducted the study? This new study was conducted by a team of researchers at the University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland and the study was led by Dr. Bertrand Graz. The study’s subjects consisted of 197 patients with lower back pain, sciatica or both conditions who underwent lowerback surgery.
What outcome did the surgeons predict compared with actual improvement? Before the operation, surgeons were asked to predict how much the surgery would improve each patient’s quality of life. The surgeons predicted a great deal of improvement for 79 percent of patients and moderate improvement for 20 percent. In total, the surgeons predicted at least moderate improvement for 99 percent of patients. However, 39 percent of the patients reported no clinically important difference in their quality of life (including level of disability and pain) one year following surgery. And, of patients whose surgeon predicted a great deal of improvement, 56 percent reported no significant improvement.
Alarmingly, the researchers found a significant subset of the patients were not even appropriate candidates for back surgery (based on strictly defined criteria). Not surprisingly, the surgeons had higher expectations for these patients and these patients showed greater improvement on subjective measures of mental health and general health. The bottom line is some of the surgeries deemed most successful may have been so because the patients didn’t really need the surgery in the first place. This factor indicates that not only are a significant number of back surgeries inappropriate, but that surgery, when deemed appropriate, may be even less effective than the study’s findings suggest.
How can I access the study? The study, “Prognosis or Curabo Effect?: Physician Prediction and Patient Outcome of Surgery for Low Back Pain and Sciatica” was published in the June 15, 2005 issue of the medical journal Spine, which is carried by most chiropractic and medical school libraries. The article appears in volume 20, issue 12, pages 1448 to 1452. The study may be ordered at the journal’s website www.spinejournal.com .
Why should patients considering back surgery get a second opinion from a Doctor of Chiropractic? If you considering back surgery, it’s vital to get a second opinion from a Doctor of Chiropractic even if you have already obtained second, or even third or fourth opinions, from medical professionals.
Unfortunately, medical schools do not provide adequate education about the benefits of chiropractic care, so physicians remain unaware as to just what chiropractic is capable of, and why.
Chiropractors like Dr. Ekengren help many patients return to full functioning after they have been told by medical practitioners that surgery is their only option. So, if you are contemplating back surgery, make an appointment today for a chiropractic consultation.
For more information, contact Ekengren Chiropractic at 661-254-9400.