@rstark It's also worth asking what other procedures can address your issues, and the pros and cons with each. You need to evaluate the risk of possible issues to try to forecast your prognosis down the road after a procedure. No one wants spine surgery, but if you have to do it, it makes sense to consider the future and if your first surgery will limit choices in the future if something else needs to be addressed surgically.

You also need information about failure rates for an implanted device and understanding of how or why that happens in relation to any other medical issues that you have. I look up the manufacturers website and read about the device. You can also search for medical journals with write ups about it . Make sure to also search with the term "failure" to see if there are any hits for information.