Surgical treatment for certain injuries helps NFL athletes return to the game faster

The Bonati Spine Institute, the leading center for the patented Bonati Spine Procedures for minimally invasive laser spine surgery, reports that recent studies indicate that surgical intervention is the best treatment option for certain back injuries.

“Orthopaedic surgeons are some of the top advocates for athletes”

A recent media briefing hosted by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) provided new research on injury prevention and treatment for professional football players. The studies indicate that with certain injuries, surgical treatment allows a significant number of NFL athletes to return to the game faster. The results of the study should be of interest to "weekend warriors" and others suffering from back problems.

"Orthopaedic surgeons are some of the top advocates for athletes," said Darren Johnson, MD, who served as the moderator for this briefing. "The intensity at which these professional athletes play increases the odds of injury. Therefore, it's our responsibility to continue studying these players to find what the best treatment options are for when injuries do occur. The studies discussed during this briefing do that."

99 NFL players diagnosed with cervical disc herniations from 1981 to 2008 were identified through team reports. Research revealed that those athletes who underwent operative treatment for CDH (a slipped disc in the neck) successfully returned to play at a higher rate than those treated non-operatively. This type of herniation can have career-threatening implications for athletes in the National Football League, however, seventy-two percent of players who underwent surgery successfully returned to play, on average, 29 games over a 2.8 year period, which was significantly longer than that of the non-operative group.

For NFL linemen that had back injuries, it was reported that those with disc herniations have a higher return to play rate when treated with surgery than with non-operative treatments. An extensive search of the public record identified 140 players on NFL rosters from 1979-2009 diagnosed with 'disc herniation' by at least 2 independent sources. Forty-six percent of NFL players with disc herniation injuries were linemen. Of these linemen who were treated surgically, 81.6 percent returned to play. More than half of linemen treated surgically became starters. The return-to-play rate was consistent with the return-to-work rate of the general population as reported in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT), funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"The results of this study are revealing. The athletic population, by virtue of higher level of demands, is at increased risk of low back problems. Fortunately, anyone considering back surgery has the option of minimally invasive advanced laser spine surgery, which is must less traumatic than the open back surgery that was the only option available years ago," commented Alfred O. Bonati, M.D., creator of The Bonati Spine Procedures and Chief Surgeon at The Bonati Spine Institute.

SOURCE The Bonati Spine Institute