the correlation between the duration of sciatica and clinical outcome after lumbar discectomy

Background: Sciatic pain in association with lumbar disc herniation may require surgical intervention in the form of lumbar discectomy. Yet, the optimal time for this operation has not been specified in medical literature. Methods: In a Cross-sectional study, 147 patients (100 men and 47 women) with radiological and clinical signs of L4-L5 or L5-S1 disc herniation were entered to our registry prior to March 2009. They were all examined, diagnosed and operated on (lumbar discectomy) in Ghaem General Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. Patients were all subsequently followed for one year. The follow-up continued in a number of 126 cases, whose satisfaction was rated via phone interview for an extra year. The patients’ assessments were implemented employing three scaling systems, both before and following lumbar discectomy, to name the Modified Oswestry Disability Index (MODI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Prolo Functional Economic Outcome Rating Scale (PORS). The former two were used for pre-operative and post-operative assessments whereas the latter was applied during the first year of follow-up. The focus of the investigation during second year was on patients’ satisfaction. Results: Mean age of our cases were 34±7.4 years. According to the duration of the sciatica, patients were divided into 4 groups. <3 months, 3 to <6 month, 6 to 12 months. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between patients having undergone lumber discectomy with a history of sciatica for less and more than three month before the operation in terms of pre-and post-operative visual Analogue Scale (P= 0.022). However, there could be found no such disparity in other clinical scores (P= 0.63 for MODI, P= 0.85 for Prolo scale and P= 0.73 for satisfaction). Conclusion: Patients with less than three months of sciatica may seem to enjoy a better clinical outcome after one year, there could be found no correlation between the duration of sciatica and the satisfaction after two years.