Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The rate of specific procedures within a region or "surgical signature" is remarkably stable over time. However, there has been a marked increase in rates of fusion, and a coincident shift and increase in cost. Rates of back surgery were not correlated with the per-capita supply of orthopedic and neurosurgeons.
Weinstein et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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