Choice: It Really Does Matter!
Choice: It Really Does Matter!
SOURCE: Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 Dec 12. [Epub ahead of print]
Keeney, Benjamin J. PhD; Fulton-Kehoe, Deborah PhD, MPH; Turner, Judith A. PhD; Wickizer, Thomas M. PhD; Chan, Kwun Chuen Gary PhD; Franklin, Gary M. MD, MPH
Department of Orthopaedics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Lebanon, NH 03756, USA. Benjamin.J.Keeney@Dartmouth.edu
This review, by scientists at the Department of Orthopaedics at the Geisel School of Medicine, clearly suggests that the first doctor you choose to see will have a profound effect on whether you end up having spinal surgery.
Just look at these stats:
42.7% of workers who first saw a surgeon ended in surgery, as opposed to only
1.5% of those who (first) saw a chiropractor.
The authors conclude: “There was a very strong association between surgery and first provider seen for the injury, even after adjustment for other important variables.”
The Abstract:
Study Design Prospective population-based cohort study
Objective To identify early predictors of lumbar spine surgery within 3 years after occupational back injury (more…)