As part of the SPORT Trial, researchers examined surgical candidates with imaging-confirmed lumbar intervertebral disc herniation and were randomized into the trial or as observational cohorts at 13 spine clinics across the United States. Patients either received standard open discectomy or nonoperative care.
According to the study abstract, there were advantages for the patients who underwent surgery in all primary and secondary outcomes besides work status. However, 49 percent of the patients assigned to the nonoperative therapy received surgery.
Study authors concluded that “carefully selected patients who underwent surgery for lumbar disc herniation achieved greater improvement than nonoperatively treated patients.” Additionally, both groups showed little degradation of outcomes from four to eight years.
