Dayton heads to Mayo for spinal surgery

Published 11:45 am Thursday, December 27, 2012

ROCHESTER — Spinal surgery will likely sideline Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton for the rest of the year.

Mark Dayton

Dayton is heading to Rochester’s Mayo Clinic Thursday for an operation he hopes will relieve a constriction in his lower back, known as stenosis.

Mayo Clinic says the spinal stenosis that afflicts Dayton is generally caused by normal wear-and-tear on the spine due to aging.

Email newsletter signup

Dayton turns 66 in a few weeks.

He is scheduled to be released from the hospital by Monday and will return to St. Paul then. He plans to work from the Governor’s Residence during a recuperation period.