ABSTRACT
Many patients who have surgery to the spine are fearful that they will suffer neurological injury. They have heard disastrous stories from friends, and have read about these problems in the newspapers. Nerve damage can occur in any spinal operation, and although not common, surgeons have a duty to warn about this possibility. A single nerve root injury can be transient or permanent. The latter is very troublesome. M'ultiple root injury is disastrous. The best method of management is prevention.
