A new study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine examines the three-month outcomes for lumbar discectomy from the NeuroPoint-SD registry.
The researchers conducted an observational prospective cohort study at 13 academic and community facilities for patients undergoing single-level lumbar discectomy for treating disc herniation. There were 148 patients enrolled in the study.
Here are five key notes from the study:
1. There were 11 patients who had reoperations by one year after surgery — 7.4 percent.
2. The patients who underwent lumbar discectomy reported significant improvement in ODI and SF-36 scores and gained 0.246 QALYs over the one-year study period.
3. There was the largest gain between the patient's baseline and three month follow-up; these gains were significantly greater than the improvements between three months and six months or six months and one year.
4. The correlation between three month, six month and one year outcomes were similar. As a result, the three-month data could be used to estimate one year outcomes for patients who don't require a reoperation.
5. The reoperation patients had worse outcome scores and on significant correlations at all time points.