@article{, title = {Degenerative Disc Disease Treated Surgically in Aircrew: The IAF Experience}, author = {N, Taneja}, abstract = { Degenerative disc disease is an important cause of spinal disability among aviators in the IAF. While the majority of aircrew would respond to conservative management, some require surgical management of disc disease. Spinal surgery theoretically has the possibility of affecting spinal dynamics during ejection and could therefore affect aeromedical disposition. This study was therefore carried out to analyze the nature of disc disease in aircrew necessitating surgery, its outcome and aero medical disposal after surgical management. This was a retrospective study to analyze 18 aircrew with symptomatic disc disease treated surgically. There were a total of 18 aircrew in our database who had undergone surgical management of PIVD. Majority of these (n=10) were fighter pilots, followed by transport and helicopters. There were three aircrew with disc disease of the cervical spine, the remaining having lumbosacral disc disease. Only two aircrew underwent discectomy and fusion in the cervical spine, the remaining aircrew in the database undergoing discectomy only without any fusion. Only one fighter pilot was returned back to fighter flying, the rest were considered fit only for transport aircraft. The mean period from surgery to flying was 12.2 months. All these aircrew have been followed up for a reasonable long time and none of them had recurrence of symptoms or the need for reoperation. The decision to make fighter pilots unfit for fighter flying appears to be based on theoretical apprehensions rather than any evidence. All aircrew after surgical management returned back to flying duties, albeit not in their original stream. The recovery period among IAF pilots is significantly higher than that among Spanish Air Force fighter pilots (mean 5 months). Return to fighter flying and period of recovery are areas that need further research. }, volume = 58, journal = {Indian Journal of Aerospace Medicine}, issn = {0970-6666}, issn = {2582-5348}, }