In the country as a whole, diseases of the nerves and peripheral ganglia (according to the reporting form No. 16) in 1977 ranked fifth in terms of cases and seventh in terms of days of incapacity for work. In 1974-1977, there was a trend towards a decrease in the incidence - in cases by 7.7% and in days by 6.5%. At the same time, there was a slight (by 1.8%) increase in the average duration of incapacity for work (in 1974 it was 11.4 days, in 1975 - 11.7, in 1976 - 11.6 and in 1977 11.6 days). An increase in the average duration of a case with a downward trend in morbidity seems to us to be a positive factor, indirectly indicating an improvement in the quality of treatment of patients. The most important condition for a further decrease in the number of vertebrogenic diseases, obviously, can be hospitalization in a wider range of these patient populations. Treatment of patients with clinical manifestations of lumbar osteochondrosis in the hospital allows, according to our data, to reduce the period of temporary disability by 2-4 times.