A new study published in Clinical Spine Surgery examines recurrent lumbar disc herniation revision surgery.
The researchers examined PubMed, the Cochrane library and EMBASE for articles on recurrent lumbar disc herniation published from 1980 to May 2014. The researchers found:
1. The revision surgery incidence was 1.4 percent; the revision surgery incidence for real-recurrent lumbar disc herniation surgery was 11.4 percent.
2. There was a complication rate range of 0 percent to 34.6 percent. Dural tears were the most common complication.
3. Surgeons achieved successful or satisfactory clinical outcomes in 60 percent to 100 percent of the patients after revision surgeries for the real-recurrent lumbar disc herniation.
4. There were several studies that reported similar outcomes between primary and revision surgery.
5. The researchers concluded the revision rate for real-recurrent lumbar disc herniation is low and patients can expect similar clinical outcomes as they experienced after the primary discectomy.