Dayton heads to Mayo Clinic today for spinal surgery

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

Dayton is heading to Rochester's Mayo Clinic on Thursday for an operation he said he hopes will relieve a constriction in his lower back. The procedure will involve fusing a vertebrae in the same area that is shifting out of alignment.

According to Mayo Clinic descriptions, the spinal stenosis that afflicts Dayton is usually caused by normal wear-and-tear on the spine because of aging.

Dayton turns 66 in a few weeks.

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

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