Citations
Citations
Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) recurrence necessitating reoperation can pose problems following spinal surgery, with an overall reported incidence of approximately (3-13%). The purpose of this study is to identify the rate of recurrent disc herniation, to discuss the radiologic indications for herniotomy and to analyze clinical outcomes compared with conventional discectomy.
This study is a retrospective case control study. The authors retrospectively reviewed 114 patients who underwent herniotomy & conventional discectomy by a single surgeon for single-level LDH between June 2009 and May 2012. Herniotomy group was 57 patients and conventional discectomy group was 57 patients that were selected from 631 patients using stratified randomization. Evaluation for LDH recurrence included detailed medical chart and radiologic review and telephone interview. Postoperative VAS and the Korean version of ODI were examined one week after surgery. Clinical outcome was investigated according to Odom's criteria from three months to three years.
Of the 114 patients for whom the authors were able to definitively assess symptomatic recurrence status, four patients (7%) experienced LDH recurrence following single-level herniotomy and three patients (5.2%) conventional discectomy. There were no differences in the VAS and Korean version of ODI between herniotomy group and conventional discectomy group. The herniotomy group had better results than the conventional discectomy group in clinical outcome from three months to three years, but the difference was not significant.
There were no significant differences in clinical outcome between herniotomy and conventional discectomy. Recurrence rates following herniotomy for LDH compare favorably with those in patients who have undergone conventional discectomy, lending further support for its effectiveness in treating herniotomy.
Citations
There are many causes of cervical myelopathy including trauma, degenerative conditions, tumors and demyelinating disorders. However, myelopathy caused by soft disc herniation might be seen rarely than the spondylosis caused by hard disc. Here, authors retrospectively analyzed the clinical features and results of cervical myelopathy caused by soft disc herniation.
From March 2010 to December 2010, 134 patients with degenerative cervical spinal disease were treated with anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion. Among them, 21 patients with cervical myelopathy secondary to cervical soft disc herniation were analyzed. Their clinical features, preoperative and, postoperative clinical results were evaluated by Nurick Grade and Japanese Orthopaedic Association scale (JOA) retrospectively. Preoperative clinical features including duration of myelopathy, pain intensity and postoperative clinical results including improvement rate of myelopathy and radiculopathy were retrospectively analyzed by Nurick Grade and JOA scale. We also evaluated correlation between the duration of symptom, type of the disc herniation, pain intensity and clinical outcome.
Mean age was 49.7 and male was predominant. Gait disturbance with mild to moderate pain was most common symptom in clinical features. Severe pain was shown in only 9 cases, and the other 12 cases experienced mild to moderate pain. Mean duration of myelopathy was 1.18 month. The mean JOA scores were 11.22 before surgery and 14.2 after surgery. The mean Nurick grades were 2.78 before treatment and 1.67 after treatment. Neurologic status of mild or moderate pain group on preoperative state is worse than that of severe pain group. The patients with duration of myelopathy symptom (<1 month) showed lower clinical improvement rate than the patients with myelopathy over 1 month. Patients with median type of disc herniation showed poorer neurological status than those with paramedian type of herniation in preoperative state.
Authors reviewed the clinical features and surgical outcome of the cervical myelopathy secondary to cervical soft disc herniation. We presumed that patients of more than one month of symptom duration, mild to moderate initial symptom would be related with better postoperative improvement rate.
Citations
Herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP) is a common disease that induces back pain and radicular pain. Some cases require surgical treatment due to persistent severe pain. However, in some cases, pain can be relieved with conservative treatment or at times relived spontaneously. Therefore, the most effective treatment method for HNP is undefinable. Spontaneous regression of HNP has been recognized with the advancement of radiological diagnostic tools and can explain the reason of spontaneous relief of symptoms without treatment.
Citations
While extruded disc fragments are known to migrate anteriorly, posteriorly, or laterally to the theca sac, posterior migration of the fragments is relatively rare and sudden onset of cauda equina syndrome (CES) caused by the migration is extremely rare. The authors experienced a case of CES that was manifested abruptly with sudden paraplegia caused by posterior migration of the lumbar intervertebral disc. A 74-year old man, who had no prior significant neurologic signs or trauma history, visited our emergency center with paraplegia of both lower extremities occurring suddenly when awakened. On magnetic resonance image (MRI) findings, we could detect ruptured disc herniation with severe lumbar stenosis at the L2-3 level. We performed an emergent decompression, and the right posterior migrated disc fragments at L2-3 were intraoperatively observed. The patient was fully recovered himself on the follow up after 3 months of the operation. In conclusion, early operation can result in better outcome in acute paraplegia caused by the posterior migrated disc fragments.
Citations