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Two surgical procedures are performed commonly in patients afflicted with chronic low back pain and degenerated disks: spinal fusion surgery and prosthetic disk replacement surgery. However, in a previous trial, spinal fusion surgery was not better than disk replacement or nonsurgical rehabilitation (JW Gen Med Jul 1 2005); whether disk replacement is superior to rehabilitation is unknown. In a multicenter randomized controlled trial, investigators in Norway compared disk replacement surgery with nonsurgical multidisciplinary treatment (i.e., cognitive and rehabilitation therapy that involved physiatrists, therapists, nurses, and social workers). The 173 enrolled patients (age range, 25–55) suffered from low back pain for ≥1 year, had under…