Patient Information Resources


Spine Institute
Glendale Adventist Medical Center
1500 E. Chevy Chase Drive, Suite 401B
Glendale, CA 91206
Ph: (818) 863-4444






Spine - Cervical
Spine - General
Spine - Lumbar
Spine - Thoracic

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I heard that they proved discography doesn't work. I had two back surgeries based on the results of my discography tests. Did I have the surgery for nothing?

Discography is a provocative test that is done by injecting a dye into one or more discs suspected of causing painful back and/or leg symptoms. Damaged discs are chemically sensitive and react to the dye. The test reproduces the patient's back pain right away -- if the disc is causing the problem and if the right disc was injected. There have been some questions raised about the validity and reliability of discography. And some recent research has shown a significant adverse effect of discography: disc degeneration and herniation after the procedure. But no one is quite ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater as the saying goes. It's one thing to say that a test doesn't really show what you are looking for. No harm is done in that. It's something else to show that the test has negative side effects. When the benefit of the test outweighs the risks, then patients and surgeons may agree to use it. But when the risks are far greater than the positive effects, then it's time to rethink the process. Many patients like you have already had the procedure -- sometimes more than once. The involved disc was identified and removed. The painful symptoms are gone. You may have resumed your former or desired level of activity and all is well. Given the results of these studies, patients may be advised to stay in close communication with their surgeon to watch for future problems. But most of the patients in the study mentioned didn't have any symptoms of disc problems, despite the MRI evidence that there was disc degeneration and herniation. It's too soon to jump to conclusions. Time and more study will reveal all.

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