February 11, 2009 4:47 PM
- Text
When Is Back Surgery Helpful?
(CBS)
Mary Cummings tried everything to relieve her back pain. Nothing worked, reports CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.
"My pain radiated down my leg and it would appear spontaneously and I couldn't predict it," Cummings says. "It was very difficult."
Dr. James Weinstein of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center diagnosed Cummings with one of the most common back ailments for people older than 55: spinal stenosis, or narrowing that pinches nerves. One of Mary's vertebrae bones had also slipped forward over her spine.
Weinstein is leading an ongoing study of treatment for back pain. Results out today in the New England Journal of Medicine show patients with the condition did substantially better with surgery than patients without.
"Patients who underwent surgery got relief within six to 12 weeks, very rapid," Weinstein says.
Says Cummings: "I would have been someone incapacitated and disabled without this surgery."
But Weinstein's previous research on another common back problem — the herniated disc — showed surgery is not necessarily better than other therapy.
It's important information, because spending for back surgery on Medicare patients alone has increased 500 percent in the last decade.
"The question we have to ask is, are we actually making those patients better," Weinstein asks. "And is spending more money for all these spine operations making a difference in the health of our country? I'm not convinced it is."
Results from Weinstein's third and final study of the most common back ailments will be released later this year.
"My pain radiated down my leg and it would appear spontaneously and I couldn't predict it," Cummings says. "It was very difficult."
Dr. James Weinstein of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center diagnosed Cummings with one of the most common back ailments for people older than 55: spinal stenosis, or narrowing that pinches nerves. One of Mary's vertebrae bones had also slipped forward over her spine.
Weinstein is leading an ongoing study of treatment for back pain. Results out today in the New England Journal of Medicine show patients with the condition did substantially better with surgery than patients without.
"Patients who underwent surgery got relief within six to 12 weeks, very rapid," Weinstein says.
Says Cummings: "I would have been someone incapacitated and disabled without this surgery."
But Weinstein's previous research on another common back problem — the herniated disc — showed surgery is not necessarily better than other therapy.
It's important information, because spending for back surgery on Medicare patients alone has increased 500 percent in the last decade.
"The question we have to ask is, are we actually making those patients better," Weinstein asks. "And is spending more money for all these spine operations making a difference in the health of our country? I'm not convinced it is."
Results from Weinstein's third and final study of the most common back ailments will be released later this year.
Latest Now in CBS Evening News
- Evening News Online, 02.09.12
- One mortgage mess culprit: Signature mills
- Remembering Kodak cameras
- Obama frees 10 states from "No Child Left Behind"
- Assad continues relentless attack on Homs
- Inside the job of a robo-signer
- Big banks, gov't officials strike $25B deal
- Civilians bear the brunt of Syrian assault
- Oral history of N. Ireland strife raises dilemma
- Repairman reminisces as Kodak retires its cameras
- Evening News Online, 02.08.12
- Female soldiers tell stories from the frontlines
- Behind winter's wild weather
- Gas prices continue to creep up
- GOP turns up heat on Obama contraceptive law
- Do Santorum wins signal fundamental change in GOP?
- Are Santorum wins good for GOP's future?
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- $26B mortgage deal: Who gets the money?
- AP Top Extended Financial Headlines At 8:16 a.m. EST
- Stock futures fall on Greek deal holdup
- Friendly's CEO steps down
on Facebook
- Tenn. father charged with murdering couple who"unfriended" daughter on Facebook
- Adele opens up about vocal cord surgery
- "Person to Person" with George Clooney
on CBS News






