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Predictive value of the duration of sciatica for lumbar discectomy

2004; British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery; Volume: 86-B; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1302/0301-620x.86b4.14419

2044-5377

Leslie Ng, P Sell,

Anesthesia and Pain Management

The optimum timing of lumbar discectomy for sciatica is imprecise. We have investigated a number of prognostic factors in relation to the outcome of radiculopathy after lumbar discectomy. We recruited 113 consecutive patients of whom 103 (91%) were followed up at one year. We found a significant association between the duration of radiculopathy and the changes in the Oswestry Disability Index score (p = 0.005) and the low back outcome score (p = 0.03). Improvement in pain was independent of all variables. Patients with an uncontained herniated disc had a shorter duration of symptoms and a better functional outcome than those with a contained herniation. Our study suggests that patients with sciatica for more than 12 months have a less favourable outcome. We detected no variation in the results for patients operated on in whom the duration of sciatica was less than 12 months.