Randy Shelerud, M.D., Mayo Clinic specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation

Generally, the same rules apply for the elderly population as we've discussed with the younger population. The difference is that the medical risk factors are obviously increased in many elderly patients. They may have high blood pressure or diabetes that would put them at a higher risk of an unsuccessful surgical outcome. So the potential benefits are the same but the risks are potentially higher and so again, patients need to be realistic about entering into a treatment with those risks and benefits in order to decide whether they think they are a candidate. Otherwise, generally speaking, we're looking for patients with focal pain, a definable reason for that pain, who are otherwise relatively healthy, fit and motivated and have realistic expectations about the outcome.

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