What Percentage of Back Surgeries Are Successful?

Most common back surgeries succeed in roughly 70% to 95% of cases: about 90% for spinal fusion, 71% to 90% for decompression surgery and 85% to 95% for artificial disc replacement. Results depend on the condition, the patient's age and health, and an accurate diagnosis.

5 min read

Surgery may be used to treat a wide variety of back conditions, including degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, and spinal stenosis, when conservative treatments fail. Although all surgical procedures carry risks, including blood clots, nerve injury, infection, or persistent pain, in many instances surgery has proven more effective than conservative treatment at relieving pain and improving physical function and quality of life. [1-5] The following article outlines success rates for the most common types of back surgery.

Spinal Fusion

Spinal fusion may relieve symptoms of degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, spinal stenosis and several other conditions by immobilizing the joint between two vertebrae. [6-9] Recovery will take several months, with complete spinal fusion—the point at which you are completely unrestricted—requiring about 12 months. [10,11]

Generally, spinal fusion surgery significantly improves short- and long-term pain and quality of life, even in people older than 75, though they may have higher complication rates. [12-14]

Approximately 90% of spinal fusions are successful, with a 71.1% satisfaction rate. [14-16] 3.9% of spinal fusions require reoperation, and mortality rates are extremely low, with complex and simple fusions having .321% and .105% mortality rates respectively. [14,17]

Spinal Decompression

Spinal decompression surgery involves the removal of bone and soft tissue around a bulging disc to reduce pressure on the spinal cord and/or nerve roots. This may include facetectomy, foraminotomy, laminectomy, laminotomy, discectomy, or corpectomy. [7,8]

Patients normally require 4-6 weeks of recovery before returning to work and resuming strenuous activities but success rates are high, estimated between 71 and 90%. [18,19] Spinal decompression has been associated with short- and long-term improvements in leg pain, back pain, and disability. [20,21]

Vertebroplasty

Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive procedure in which bone cement is injected into collapsed vertebrae to repair compression fractures, which are often caused by osteoporosis. [22,23] Spinal compression fractures are common, especially among older women, and are generally treated with rest, oral analgesics, muscle relaxants, bracing, and physical therapy. [22,24] However, if conservative measures are unsuccessful at relieving pain, vertebroplasty is performed to strengthen the fracture.

Vertebroplasties have a high success rate, reported between 73% and 90%, and relieve pain both short- and long-term. [25,26] Surgical complications occur in 1-3% when treating osteoporotic fractures, and in 7-10% of procedures to treat malignant neoplasms. [25]

Artificial Disc Replacement

Disc replacement involves replacing the diseased vertebral disc with an artificial disc to restore function of the spine and eliminate back pain. Disc replacement surgery has exceptionally good outcomes, between 85% and 95%, and satisfaction rates between 75.5% and 93.3%. [27,28]

In addition to significant reductions in pain and disability, artificial disc replacement may reduce the likelihood of future degeneration of adjacent discs. [27-29] Though all surgery comes with risks, the most common back surgeries have high success rates and relatively low complication rates.

Speak with your physician about the risks, benefits, and expected recovery process of surgery to make an informed decision about your treatment plan.

Sources

1. Montgomery S. TLIF Back Surgery Success Rates and Risks. Spine-health. https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/spinal-fusion/tlif-back-surgery-success-rates-and-risks

2. Risks: Lumbar decompression surgery United Kingdom National Health Service https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lumbar-decompression-surgery/risks/

3. Rodriguez M. Laminectomy and Spinal Stenosis: Risks and Complications. Spine-health. https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/back-surgery/laminectomy-and-spinal-stenosis-risks-and-complications

4. Spine Surgery: When It Works and When It Doesn’t. Ortho Bethesda. https://www.orthobethesda.com/blog/spine-surgery-when-it-works-and-when-it-doesnt/

5. Chen BL, Guo JB, Zhang HW, et al. Surgical versus non-operative treatment for lumbar disc herniation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Rehabil. Feb 2018;32(2):146-160. doi:10.1177/0269215517719952

6. Spinal Fusion AAOS. https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/treatment/spinal-fusion/

7. Surgical Options for Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD). Boston Scientific Corporation https://www.painscale.com/article/surgical-options-for-degenerative-disc-diseaseddd#:~:text=Three%20main%20types%20of%20surgery,replacement%20(intervertebral%20disc%20arthroplasty)

8. Wu PH, Kim HS, Jang I-T. Intervertebral Disc Diseases PART 2: A Review of the Current Diagnostic and Treatment Strategies for Intervertebral Disc Disease. Int J Mol Sci.2020;21(6):2135. doi:10.3390/ijms21062135

9. Hospital for Special Surgery. Minimally Invasive Lower Back Surgery for Disc Degeneration: The AnteroLateral (Side) Approach: a new minimally invasive surgical approach to lumbar spine fusion. HSS https://www.hss.edu/CONDITIONS_MINIMALLY-INVASIVE-LOWER-BACK-SURGERYANTEROLATERAL.ASP

10. Surgical Treatment for Scoliosis. AAOS https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/treatment/surgical-treatment-for-scoliosis

11. Spinal Fusion Surgery for Scoliosis. UCSF Health. https://www.ucsfhealth.org/treatments/spinal-fusion-surgery-for-scoliosis

12. Costa F, Ortolina A, Tomei M, Cardia A, Zekay E, Fornari M. Instrumented fusion surgery in elderly patients (over 75 years old): clinical and radiological results in a series of 53 patients. Eur Spine J. 2013;22 Suppl 6(Suppl 6):S910-S913. doi:10.1007/s00586-013-3021-0

13. Epstein NE. Spine surgery in geriatric patients: Sometimes unnecessary, too much, or too little. Surg Neurol Int. 2011;2:188-188. doi:10.4103/2152-7806.91408

14. Perez-Cruet MJ, Hussain NS, White GZ, et al. Quality-of-life outcomes with minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion based on long-term analysis of 304 consecutive patients. Spine. 2014;39(3):E191-E198. doi:10.1097/BRS.0000000000000078

15. Phillips FM, Slosar PJ, Youssef JA, Andersson G, Papatheofanis F. Lumbar spine fusion for chronic low back pain due to degenerative disc disease: a systematic review. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). Apr 1 2013;38(7):E409-22. doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182877f11

16. Dohrmann GJ, Mansour N. Long-Term Results of Various Operations for Lumbar Disc Herniation: Analysis of over 39,000 Patients. Medical Principles and Practice. 2015;24(3):285-290. doi:10.1159/000375499

17. Poorman GW, Moon JY, Wang C, et al. Rates of Mortality in Lumbar Spine Surgery and Factors Associated With Its Occurrence Over a 10-Year Period: A Study of 803,949 Patients in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Int J Spine Surg. 2018;12(5):617-623. doi:10.14444/5076

18. Overview: Lumbar Decompression Surgery UK National Health Service https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/lumbar-decompression-surgery/

19. Spinal Decompression Therapy. Oregon Spine and Disc https://oregonspineanddisc.com/spinaldecompression.php

20. Sunderland G, Foster M, Dheerendra S, Pillay R. Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Lumbar Decompression Surgery: A Review of 2699 Cases. Global Spine J. Mar 2021;11(2):172-179. doi:10.1177/2192568219896541

21. Anjarwalla NK, Brown LC, McGregor AH. The outcome of spinal decompression surgery 5 years on. Eur Spine J. 2007;16(11):1842-1847. doi:10.1007/s00586-007-0393-z

22. Back Surgery American Society of Anesthesiologists https://www.asahq.org/madeforthismoment/preparing-for-surgery/procedures/back-surgery/

23. Vertebroplasty. Johns Hopkins Medicine https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/vertebroplasty

24. Compression Fractures. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21950-compression-fractures

25. Predey TA, Sewall LE, Smith SJ. Percutaneous vertebroplasty: new treatment for vertebral compression fractures. Am Fam Physician. Aug 15 2002;66(4):611-5.

26. Kotwica Z, Saracen A. Early and long-term outcomes of vertebroplasty for single osteoporotic fractures. Neurol Neurochir Pol. Sep-Oct 2011;45(5):431-5. doi:10.1016/s0028-3843(14)60310-8

27. Cui X-D, Li H-T, Zhang W, Zhang L-L, Luo Z-P, Yang H-L. Mid- to long-term results of total disc replacement for lumbar degenerative disc disease: a systematic review. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research. 2018/12/26 2018;13(1):326. doi:10.1186/s13018-018-1032-6

28. Disc Replacement Surgery Success Rates Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery Texas https://minimallyinvasiveneurosurgerytexas.com/disc-replacement-surgery-success-rates/

29. Volpe KD. Cervical Artificial Disc Replacement Outcomes at 5 to 10 Years Spine Universe https://pro.spineuniverse.com/news/cervical-artificial-disc-replacement-outcomes-5-10-years

Frequently asked questions about back surgery success rates.

What percentage of back surgeries are successful?

Most common back surgeries succeed in roughly 70% to 95% of cases, depending on the procedure. Published success rates are about 90% for spinal fusion, 71% to 90% for decompression surgery, 73% to 90% for vertebroplasty and 85% to 95% for artificial disc replacement. Results also depend on the condition treated and the patient’s age and health.

How successful is lower back surgery?

Lower back (lumbar) surgery helps most patients when it is done for the right reason after conservative treatment has not worked. Studies show surgery often relieves pain and improves function more than nonsurgical care. Spinal fusion succeeds about 90% of the time, and decompression surgery between 71% and 90%.

What is the success rate of spinal fusion surgery?

About 90% of spinal fusions are successful, with a 71.1% patient satisfaction rate. About 3.9% of fusions need a second operation, and the risk of death is very low (about 0.1% for simple fusions and 0.3% for complex fusions). Fusion improves pain and quality of life even in people over 75, although they have higher complication rates.

What is the success rate of spinal stenosis surgery?

Surgery for spinal stenosis is usually a decompression, such as a laminectomy, which removes bone or tissue pressing on the spinal cord or nerves. Decompression succeeds in an estimated 71% to 90% of patients and is linked to lasting improvement in leg pain, back pain and disability. A fusion is sometimes added when the spine also needs stabilizing.

What is the success rate of artificial disc replacement?

Artificial disc replacement has success rates between 85% and 95%, with patient satisfaction between 75.5% and 93.3%. Along with reducing pain and disability, a disc replacement may lower the chance of future wear on the neighboring discs.

How long is recovery from back surgery?

It depends on the procedure. Most people return to work and strenuous activity 4 to 6 weeks after decompression surgery. Spinal fusion takes several months, and complete fusion, when you are fully unrestricted, takes about 12 months. Vertebroplasty often relieves pain right away with a short recovery. For the first weeks, see walking after spinal surgery.

What factors affect back surgery success?

The main factors are the type of procedure, the condition being treated, the patient’s age and overall health, other medical conditions, complications during healing and how closely the recovery plan is followed. Surgery works best when the imaging findings match the symptoms and conservative treatment has already been tried.

Can back surgery fail?

Yes, although most back surgeries succeed. About 3.9% of spinal fusions need a second operation, and complications such as infection, blood clots and nerve injury occur in roughly 1% to 10% of cases, depending on the procedure. Pain can also persist after surgery, which is why a careful diagnosis beforehand matters. A second opinion can help.