ABSTRACT

Pain arising from the spine is most often successfully treated using a non-operative approach. Most individuals experiencing back pain can recover with 2 to 3 days of bed rest and anti-inflammatory medication (Deyo, Diehl, & Rosenthan, 1986). Even those patients who experience protracted pain rarely undergo invasive treatment. Although approximately 70% of individuals in the United States experience back pain at some point in their lives (Fordyce, Brockway, & Spengler, 1986), only about 1% of back pain sufferers have medical conditions requiring surgery (Spitzer, 1987). Yet the number of spine surgeries performed in the United States is still quite large. Approximately 280,000 surgeries for low back pain are performed yearly (Taylor, Deyo, Cherkin, & Kreuter, 1994). Thus, spine surgery is a not infrequent approach when nonoperative measures have failed to produce relief.