Unnecessary spine surgeries cost billions, report says

Back operations without known cause of pain not accepted in academic medicine, says UCI Health surgeon

IN THE NEWS: A recent analysis of Medicare data found that surgeons have billed more than $2 billion for unnecessary spine operations over a three-year period.

UCI Health spine surgeon Dr. Charles D. Rosen, who was not involved in the study, was not surprised by the conclusions of the report, which was published by the Lown Institute. He spoke to Medpage Today about the findings.

"[It captures] the practice of operating on low back pain without any of the qualifiers that indicate a legitimate need for surgery ― neurogenic compression or compression of the nerve, scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, tumor, [or] fracture. It's really not terribly accepted in academic circles to operate on just back pain or discogenic disease when you have no real etiology for the pain."

Rosen is a nationally recognized expert in evaluating the failure of artificial lumbar disc replacements and their treatment. He is a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. His research has ranged from developing a more accurate model of spinal biomechanics to ethics and spinal injuries.

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