Back Surgery Patients Unsatisfied Long-Term

The November 15, 1999 Spine reports that patients who have had surgery on their lumbar (low back) spine have unsatisfactory long term results continue to have problems and in some cases need to have the surgery a second time.

109 patients who had herniated discs treated with discectomy were tracked from 7 to 20 years afterward. 36% of the long term patients had unsatisfactory results during the follow-up period. More than 25% of the patients continue to experience leg and/or back pain and 7.3% of them needed to have the surgery re-done.

This in in sharp contrast to a study published in the October, 1995 New England Journal of Medicine which found patients are much more satisfied with the care given them by their Chiropractor than those who went to medical doctors .

42% of those patients who went to a Chiropractor for low back pain rated their care as "excellent" while only 27% of those who went to a medical doctor for the same problem rated their care as high.