Top Ten Reasons You Should Run from Your Surgeon

May 8, 2007
by: Peter

Read this before selecting a surgeon to operate on your back.

1. If the surgeon says "Everyone does well with this surgery". There is no surgery that does not have risk and always has a good outcome.
2. If hip surgery is their main focus and spine surgery comprises only a small part of their surgeries - it takes a lot of practice to get good at operating on the spine.
3. If they cannot clearly articulate what they think is the anatomic problem that is causing your pain and how they propose to correct it.
4. If they state "I always do the neck first and then do the back". This sounds ridiculous but it happens. It is highly unlikely that a patient would have anatomic lesions in both the neck and back.
5. If they propose doing a multilevel fusion in the lumbar spine for degenerative disc disease. The spine is meant to move and although fusing one or possibly two levels for a badly degenerated disc is reasonable, fusing multiple levels rarely is necessary or advisable.
6. If the surgeon does not offer a patient any non-surgical treatment options they may be operating under the old "I have a hammer so everything I treat is a nail" adage.
7. If they get perturbed by the patient asking questions. A well qualified informed physician does not mind a patient asking questions. A marginal physician is more likely to be put out by an inquisitive patient.
8. If the surgeon states that he has never done this particular type of surgery but would like to try it.
9. If the first surgery does not work and the surgeon proposes doing it all over again. The most common reason a surgery does not work is that the patient did not need the surgery in the first place.
10. If the given reason for proceeding with surgery is that the surgeon needs a new boat.

Posted by: Peter Ullrich, Jr., MD

Additional resources:

• Deciding on Surgery for Degenerative Disc Disease
• Modern Lumbar Spine Fusion Surgery
• How to Select a Spine Surgeon
• American board of spine surgery