2007 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 161-164
This study examined the relationship among the duration of sciatica, morphological differences in disc, and surgical outcomes in patients with lumbar disc herniation. Thirty-two patients were followed for more than 1 year after surgery. One-year postoperatively, JOA scores did not correlate with duration of sciatica in these patients. However, although preoperative the proportion of patients with contained disc was higher among these with longer preoperative duration. JOA scores were more severe in patients with noncontained disc than in those with contained disc. JOA scores were not different between the groups one-year postoperatively. It seems that the duration of symptoms is unlikely to influence surgical outcomes. Patients with noncontained disc generally had more severe symptoms and thus underwent surgery earlier than patients with contained disc. However, there was no significant difference in surgical outcomes between patients with contained disc and those with noncontained disc.
