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Surgeon Age Doesn’t Affect Outcomes for Spinal Surgery

May 6, 2025

Ells B, Canizares M, Charest-Morin R, et al. Surgical Outcomes and Patient Expectations and Satisfaction in Spine Surgery Stratified by Surgeon Age. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8:e255984.

The authors reported data from a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing spine surgery; the study was conducted in multiple Canadian tertiary care centers during the interval 2015–2020.

Patient-reported outcomes (n = 3,421) were gathered using a standard survey instrument; primary outcomes of interest were pain scores, expectation fulfillment, and overall patient satisfaction.

Data were collected 1 year after elective procedures for degenerative spine conditions. Surgeons were classified according to age into three categories (35–44 years, 45–59 years, and ≥65 years). Younger surgeons treated 23.7% of patients, middle aged surgeons treated 48% of patients, and older surgeons treated 28.3% of the group. Lumbar spine procedures were performed in 83.5% of patients.

The data analysis showed that pain scores were similar for all surgeon age groups; patients reported higher rates of fulfillment of expectations and overall satisfaction when treated by younger surgeons.

The authors concluded that similar patient outcomes in all surgeon age groups confirmed the value of spine surgeons to the patient community.

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