Surgery May Not Be Needed for Bad Backs

Nov. 21, 2006 — -- SHOULD BACK PAIN PATIENTS GET SURGERY? Both surgery and non-surgical treatments are effective for patients suffering from lower back pain due to a herniated disk, shows new research from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Doctors tracked more than 1,200 patients and found that surgically-treated people did a bit better after three months, but that after two years, patients who had surgery were essentially the same as those who did not have surgery. Unfortunately, hard conclusions about whether surgery is better, the same, or worse are not possible because patients did not stay in their assigned groups. Too many patients in the surgery group opted not to get the surgery, and too many patients in the non-surgery group opted to go ahead with surgery. Results tended to favor surgery just a bit, but the differences were small and may be due to chance or bias on the part of the patients who had surgery. Patients who opt for surgery typically expect better results. The good news from the study is that both surgical and non-surgical treatments appear safe and effective for lower back pain, so patients can opt for whichever method works best for them.

TEEN BIRTH RATE AT RECORD LOW Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on birth statistics for the nation based on 99 percent of the birth certificates filed in the United States in 2005. They found that the teen birth rate is at its lowest level ever, 40.4 births per 1,000, which represents a 35 percent decrease from 1991. The report also found that the total number of births in the United States increased by 1 percent over the total from 2004. The number of births to unmarried mothers rose 4 percent from the previous year, as did the preterm birth rate and the percentage of babies born at low birth weights.

STAT is a brief look at the latest medical research and is compiled by Joanna Schaffhausen, who holds a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience. She works in the ABC News Medical Unit, evaluating medical studies, abstracts and news releases.