A study at Thomas Jefferson University found that overweight persons were at greater risk for complications when they underwent spinal surgery.

Yet, Dr. Ratliff found a much higher incidence of complications in extremely
overweight and obese patients, including blood clots, wound infections, heart
problems, and deep vein thrombosis. “We found that the incidence of
complications related directly to the degree of obesity,” he says. “Not only
does being obese raise the risk of complications, but the greater the obesity,
the more the risk of having something go wrong around the time of surgery.” He
presents his findings on October 9, 2006 at the 2006 Congress of Neurological
Surgeons Annual Meeting in Chicago.

You may want to ask your MD prior to a potential surgery for a perscription to your physical therapist to assist with a weight loss program.

“Obesity and back pain is a Catch-22,” he says. “A person is obese, has
back pain, and the doctor says to exercise. But because of the pain, he may not
be able to exercise enough and continues to put on weight. Then the back hurts
more and he becomes even more inactive.”

Read about it.