“Failed back surgery syndrome”

An inappropriate diagnostic label may exacerbate the discomfort of patients who develop persistent and disabling symptoms after back surgery

Every general practitioner has one–a patient who has had back surgery but hasn't improved. Around 2000 cases of failed back surgery syndrome are produced each year in the United Kingdom.1^–3 This is an uncomfortable statistic, and it is an uncomfortable condition to manage. Patients are often young and were previously active but now face chronic pain for years. They come from the surgeons but are no longer surgical candidates. They have been through the gamut of orthopaedic, neurological, and radiological opinions followed by physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and possibly clinical psychology, funnelling them inexorably towards the pain clinic. Unfortunately, they fare badly there too, with just over one in three patients achieving more than 30% pain relief.

I know about this dreary path at first hand. Nowadays, we may increasingly be questioning the advisability of surgery for prolapsed disc, but not operating can also produce long term disability. Comparison of the UK rate of spinal surgery with that in other …