How successful is spinal surgery for degenerative arthritis?

Not very: Spine surgery for ddd alone, is rarely indicated. Now, if your ddd is associated with spinal stenosis, pinched nerves, scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, then results are much better. Understand, what caused ddd in the affected disk is present in all of them. So fix one, and nothing to prevent recurrence. That is why spine surgery gets such a bad rap—it is not a preventative for other problems.

Good, but: There are other modalities you can try. These range from acupuncture, through chiropractors and up to rehabilitation doctors. Sometimes surgery is the only way to treat the pain, but other modalities can be used first.

Depends: On how you define success and what the underlying condition is. For well-defined problems like a herniated disc or a single affected nerve root, there may be good relief with little need for ongoing therapy. Multi-level problems from extensive degeneration have considerably less success and many patients continue to need therapy including pain meds following "successful" surgery.