[Surgery of lumbar disk prolapse in Scandinavia. A questionnaire study in Scandinavian neurosurgical departments in 1993].

This article consists in a review of treatment for lumbar disc prolapse in 1993, as reported by all 22 neurosurgery units in the Nordic countries, serving a total population of 23.5 million. Of surgical operations for the condition, 37 per cent were performed by neurosurgeons-using standard lumbar discectomy in 61.3 per cent of cases, microsurgical techniques in 36 per cent of cases, and percutaneous lumbar discectomy in the remaining 2.7 per cent. Chemonucleolysis is no longer considered a viable therapeutic alternative. In the Nordic countries as a whole, the annual incidence of lumbar disc prolapse surgery is 52.5 per 100,000, though the figure varies from one country to another.