An assessment of the variation in the practice of lumbar discectomy and its role in axial back pain.

BACKGROUND

Lumbar discectomy is performed for symptomatic lumbar disc herniation and is one of the most widely performed spinal surgical procedures worldwide in a variety of ways. This survey aimed at providing an overview/perspective of different practice patterns and the impact of lumbar discectomy on axial back pain with or without sciatica.

METHODS

An online survey was performed using the application "Google Forms." The link to the questionnaire was distributed to neurosurgeons through personal E-mail and social media platforms.

RESULTS

We received 333 responses. The largest percentage of responses across five continents was from Asia (66.97%, n = 223). The mean age of the respondents was 40.08 ± 10.5 years. A total of 66 respondents (20%) had a spine practice of 7%-90%, and 28 respondents had a spine practice of 90%-100% (8.4%). The number of respondents who practiced microscopic discectomy using a tubular retractor ( = 143 respondents, 42.9%) was nearly equal to the number of respondents who practiced open discectomy ( = 142 respondents, 42.6%). An almost equal proportion of respondents believed discectomy does not help in relieving axial back pain. Only 20.4% ( = 68) of respondents recommend bed rest for a longer duration postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our survey revealed that only 22.2% of spine surgeons recommended discectomy in patients with radiological disc herniation with axial back pain alone and preferred a minimally invasive method of discectomy. Almost half of them believed discectomy to be ineffective for axial low back pain and only a few recommended prolonged bed rest postoperatively.