Age Limits for Spinal Surgery
Age itself is not a disqualifying factor for a spinal surgery. A patient that is 75 years old and living with back pain may be a candidate for spinal surgery. Where as a patient that is 45 years old living with back pain can be disqualified depending on the situation. One of the biggest things your healthcare team is going to look at is your overall health. They want to make sure that the procedure is safe and the risk does not outweigh the benefit of the procedure.
Considerations Before Surgery
Surgery is a big deal for anyone no matter what age they are. Healthcare is multi faceted and looking at the bigger picture is extremely important. Will this patient be able to get through a surgery? Will recovery from the surgery be too difficult for this patient? Would the patient live a better life if we used pain management or if we used physical therapy? These are all very important questions and this is a big reason you need to have open communication with your healthcare team.
When looking at options keep an open mind and ask questions. If you are curious as to why the healthcare team decided surgery was not the best option, ask them why they think this different route is more beneficial. You will be surprised at how much goes into these decisions.
TOo Old for Surgery?
In 2018, a study looked at patients that were over 90 years old. The researchers looked at patients who underwent elective spinal surgery along with emergency surgery. [1] The patients that underwent elective spinal surgery did not reduce their life expectancy and saw beneficial results. [1] The patients that underwent emergency surgery had higher rates of complications and higher mortality than other patient populations. [1] Depending on each situation you will see different results. This goes to show certain procedures will carry bigger risks depending on the population. Other procedures may remain safe even into later years of the human lifecycle.
Too Young For Surgery?
On the other side of things is there an age limit for being too young for spinal surgery? The answer to this is not really. Depending on what is going on with the patient will determine if the patient needs spinal surgery or not. Patients that are 20 years old or younger have undergone spinal surgery and returned to active lives. [2] Younger patients experience injuries to spinal cords just like everyone else and they can have cases of scoliosis that are severe enough that they need surgical correction.
Conclusion
Age is just a number at the end of the day. Patients are all unique and that is something that is taken into account when determining who needs spinal surgery and who can benefit from other methods of medical treatment. There is no sure answer of who will receive a spinal surgery and who will not. Some of the big things that are looked at are how will the patient do during a surgery, will a patient be able to recover after the spinal surgery? Does the patient have other medical complications that may make recovery more difficult? At the end of the day, you and the surgeon will decide and work together to create a treatment plan that will result in the best outcomes for you.
Sources
1. Rychen J, Stricker S, Mariani L, Schaeren S, Jost GF. Outcome of Spinal Surgery in Patients Older Than Age 90 Years. World Neurosurg. 2019 Mar;123:e457-e464. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.11.188. Epub 2018 Nov 27. PMID: 30500575.
2. Abbasi, H. (2020, August 18). Is 20 Years Old Too Young For Spine Surgery? Inspired Spine. Retrieved June 13, 2022, from https://www.inspiredspine.com/newsblog/2016/february/is-20-years-old-too-young-for-spine-surgery-/
By the Brain and Spine Neurosurgical Institute of Rhode Island
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