PHILADELPHIA — Patients do “quite well” both mentally and physically 5 years following lumbar diskectomy, based on follow-up of 53 patients.
Lumbar diskectomy has become one of the most common spinal, surgical procedures 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 diskectomy done at any of eight medical centers in the United States during January 1997-March 1999. Questionnaires and surveys were sent to each patient.
Overall, the scores showed the patients were doing well with little disability and were 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 42.47, and the mental component score was 53.47, 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%, a rate that's “fairly high,” Dr. Welch said.