PHILADELPHIA — Patients do “quite well” both mentally and physically 5 years following lumbar discectomy, based on follow-up of 53 patients.
Lumbar discectomy has become one of the most common spinal, surgical procedures performed in the United States, William C. Welch, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the North American Spine Society.
“Remarkably, this is the first study to show positive, 5-year outcomes on a number of important biopsychosocial variables,” said the chief of neurologic surgery and spine services at the University of Pittsburgh.
The study included a sample of patients aged 18 or older who had a first discectomy done at any of eight medical centers in the United States from January 1997 to March 1999. Surveys were designed to assess mental and physical status as well as back pain, functional disability, treatment helpfulness, and satisfaction with the surgery.
Overall, the scores showed that the patients were doing well with little disability and were generally satisfied with their outcomes. None of the questionnaire results were significantly different from normative values, said Dr. Welch, professor of neurologic and orthopedic surgery at the university.
For example, the average physical component scale score on the Short Form-12 questionnaire was 42.5, and the mental component score was 53.5, both in the normal range. The average treatment helpfulness questionnaire score was 49.8 on a scale where 50 indicates good, overall satisfaction. The average Pain Disability Questionnaire score was 21.1, in a range where 0 indicates no problem and 150 indicates the greatest severity.
The rate of repeat surgery at the same disk level was 9.8%.