Neck Surgeries in the Elderly on the Rise

A new data study shows that the rate of cervical spine fusions in elderly Medicare patients rose a whopping 206% between 1992 and 2005. Over 156,000 hospital records were reviewed for demographic information.

A cervical spine fusion is a surgery that unites two adjacent spinal bones by taking out the disc material. Sometimes a bone graft is used (as well as instrumentation) in order to accomplish what doctors call a "union" between the vertebrae in question.

Interestingly, the rate of increase for the neck operations was not the same across the nation. In Idaho, there were lots of surgeries: 14% to be exact. Contrast that with Washington, DC, where the rate was .004%. The researchers also found that the condition most often warranting the surgery was cervical spondylosis with myelopathy, which is a degenerative condition that affects the spinal cord. Fifty-two percent of those who got the fusion surgery were men, 88% were white and 41% were between the ages 65 and 69.

Another study done by the same researchers found that there was a significant risk of death for elderly people who had the surgery for cervical spondylosis with myleopathy. See a short video on spinal fusion.

| Cervical Spine Fusion | Back Pain | Bone Graft |

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