Have you experienced serious back and leg pain? Has your doctor diagnosed you with a herniated disc in your lower back? After such a diagnosis, there are generally two routes to take: surgical and non-surgical intervention. The Associated Press reported reported on one study that shows surgery brings better long-term outcomes than the non-surgical route when treating herniated discs in the lumbar spine.
The eight-year follow-up study was recently published online in the Spine journal and will be available in print in the January issue. Some patients did experience lasting benefits from nonsurgical treatment, but overall the results support undergoing an operation for a herniated disc. Researchers from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the Geisel School of Medicine analyzed the information available from the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT), which holds a large database of outcomes for patients who underwent surgery for spinal conditions.
Some of the type of nonsurgical interventions include exercise, physical therapy, and taking prescribed painkillers. The SPORT experiment followed 1,244 patients of whom 500 were randomly assigned to surgery and the rest were allowed to choose with their doctors what type of treatment they preferred.
“Carefully selected patients who underwent surgery for a lumbar disc herniation achieved greater improvement than non-operatively treated patients,” lead author Dr. Jon D. Lurie and colleagues stated in their report.
Consumer Affairs reported that the patients who had undergone surgery had an 11-point lower score for pain on a 100-point scale. Improvements were also seen in patient satisfaction and sciatica or leg pain symptoms.
Lumbar disc surgery is a relatively common procedure undergone by many patients throughout the United States. If you have been diagnosed with a herniated disc, speak with your doctor to see if surgery may be the right option for you. Dr. Armen Khachatryan has a vast amount of knowledge and expertise in surgical approaches to spinal care. Dr. K may be able to improve your quality of life!