Clinico-epidemiological profile of lower lumbar disc herniation patients undergoing microlumbar discectomy

Abstract

Introduction: The clinical presentations of lumbosacral radiculopathy vary according the level of nerve root or roots involved. Lumbar Discectomy is very commonly performed for this. We aimed to study the clinico-epidemiological profile of the patients who presented to our hospital with low back pain, were diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation and were operated with micro-lumbar discectomy. Methodology: The study was designed and performed in the Department of Orthopedics, Lokmanya Hospital Chinchwad and Lokmanya Hospital Nigdi, Pune from August 2002 till May 2004. After approval of the institutional ethics committee, we included patients who were admitted and operated for lumbar disc herniation with microlumbar disc surgery. We collected personal, demographical, clinical history and clinical examination findings of the patients. The data was compiled and analysed descriptively using Epi Info software. The frequency tables were prepared and percentages were calculated. Results: We included 24 patients, 15 patients were males, average age was 45.85 years. L4-L5 was the most commonly involved level of disc involved in our patient population. Radiation of pain towards the right was more commonly seen then left. Majority of the patients had duration of symptoms between 2 to 6 months (42%). 7 patients had sensory distribution of neurological symptoms, 4 had motor and reflex distribution of symptoms each. Conclusions: Understanding the clinical and epidemiological profile of patients with disc herniation can help us in identifying candidates for microdiscectomy and better outcomes as a result.