Terms Used For Diagnosis by English Speaking Spine Surgeons

Abstract

Spine surgeons may choose from a great variety of terms when they label a patient's diagnosis or describe surgical findings. A study suggested that variations in language practices may be so great as to cause confusion.1 As a function of the Committee on Nomenclature of the North American Spine Society, we sought to document current language practices among surgeons, as an introduction to our efforts to define and standardize terms.