Operations often unnecessary, second opinion better

Operations often unnecessary. Opinion of a second doctor makes sense

23/12/2013

Back pain is at the top of the list of German common diseases. About a quarter of the adult population in Germany is more likely to suffer from back pain and 26.5 percent of the days off work in 2012 were registered due to musculoskeletal disorders. This resulted in a study of the umbrella organization of company health insurance funds (BKK).

Many physicians advise the patient to undergo surgery to finally cure the condition and explain the procedure as the only alternative. But not only surgical interventions on the back have increased significantly in recent years. Also hip surgery, knee surgery and caesarean sections were increasingly billed to the health insurance companies. In 2011, just under 15.4 million surgical procedures were performed in Germany, and in terms of population, Germany is thus at the top of the list worldwide, according to the results of a request from the Left Party to the Federal Ministry of Health. Experts hold many Op´s are superfluous and tend mainly to the hospitals' pricing system as a reason for the increase. According to the Ministry of Health, no other European country performs as many hip operations as in Germany.

operating room´s not always medically necessary
The number of spine Op´s even more than doubled between 2005 - 2011 from 326,962 to 734,644 interventions. Compared to the „Focus“ BKK boss Achim Kolanoski explained: „In spinal surgery, we can prove that even 80 percent are preventable“. Often, it is advisable to seek a second opinion from another doctor, because in 67 percent of the cases an alternative treatment option could have been used.

The health spokesman of the Union faction, Jens Spahn (CDU), has no doubt that operates more in Germany than in other European countries. Further studies are now to clarify "if we operate too much and why". Patients must be able to rely on surgery only for medical reasons and not for profit of some physicians and hospitals. For the left, this development is due to the case flat rate system at billing. In addition, most hospitals are financially poor. "There are pointless incentives for cutting set, while the funds are missing in healing and prevention The case lump sum must fall," said the left-wing vice-Klaus Ernst. BKK boss Franz Knieps sees behind these numbers financial incentives that are crucial for these aberrations. The remuneration flat rates of the health insurance companies are too lucrative for the clinics and back operations its therefore a good deal.

Only five percent of the surgical procedures really help
Numerous studies have shown that at most five percent of severe back pain could have been alleviated by surgery. Refers to the specialist Ulf Marnitz from the Berlin back center Markgrafenpark. He refers to studies showing that one year after the onset of a herniated disc, the health status of operated and non-operated patients was identical. Patients should definitely seek a second opinion. Every surgical procedure always entails risks that should only be borne in mind if no alternatives are available and all other options have been exhausted (fr)