80 percent of Americans will suffer lower back pain at some point in their lives. For many patients with aching backs, the problem may actually be a joint that connects the back and hip.

Now, a minimally-invasive surgery could help these patients find relief.

When 66-year-old John Baxter says yard work used to be a pain in the butt, he's not kidding.

"From both buttocks down both of my legs to my knees were totally fatigued when you walk. I had constant pain across my lower back and extreme pain, at times, depending on what you were doing,” says John.

Heavy lifting at work three years ago injured his sacroiliac joint or SIJ. That’s where the pelvis joins the spinal column.

Spine surgeon Dr. Arnold Graham Smith says for patients with persistent pain, even surgical options are rare.

"Very few people are doing the major operation to open the joint up and pack it with bone chips. I'm one of those people who has done that, but for the great majority of people, there's been no treatment available at all,” says Dr. Graham Smith.

Dr. Graham Smith uses porous triangular rods in a new procedure to fix the joint called arthrodesis. Guided by live imaging, he cuts three slots across the sacroiliac joint then places the rods through the joint to stabilize it.

"The procedure works because it stops the joint from moving, and it's only movement which brings on the pain,” says Dr. Graham Smith.

Three months after surgery, John has found relief.

"My back pain's gone, and the numbness down both legs is gone,” he says.

This new surgery has been approved by the FDA.

Patients can suffer sacroiliac injuries at nearly any age. Common causes are automobile accidents, like rear-end collisions, heavy lifting and sometimes even childbirth.

RESEARCH SUMMARY:
TOPIC: NEW SURGERY EASES ACHING BACKS
BACKGROUND: Low back pain is the most common form of physical disability. According to the Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, about 80 percent of all Americans will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain is the second-leading cause of work absence.