Factors affecting the results of lumbar discectomy

Low back pain is one of the most important causes of disability among people around the world. Although only 2-5% of low back pain disorders resulting from herniation of lumbar intervertebral discs but surgery for lumbar disc herniation is a common procedure. The aim of this study was to determine the relation between some bio-psycho-social variables and treatment outcomes in patients who undergo first time single-level lumbar discectomy.
This is a prospective observational analytic study comprised 100 patients (age range 18-73 years) underwent single-level lumbar disc surgery. The patients who met our inclusion criteria and were willing to participate in the study were recruited from the neurosurgery ward of Logman and Imam Khomaini hospitals in Tehran, Iran, between October 2015 and March 2016. The patient completed SF-36 quality of life Questionnaires before, one and two months after surgery.
In comparison to standard values, before the surgery patients had significantly lower baseline SF-36 (36-Item Short Form Survey) Questionnaire value in all 8 domains. The role limitations due to physical health had greatest impact on quality of life. At the eight weeks’ follow-up SF-36 scores showed significant improvement in both physical and mental scales. Age had no significant impact on mental scales of weeks’ Questionnaire but in age less than 30 years there was a positive relation between the patient’s age at surgery and physical aspects of quality of life. Although there was no significant difference in physical aspects of SF-36 Questionnaire between males and females but males had a significantly higher mean mental health score than females after surgery. Smokers had lower value of mental scales of SF-36 Questionnaire than in nonsmokers.
The result of this study showed that surgery for lumbar disc herniation had a great impact on both physical and mental scales of SF-36 Questionnaire two months after surgery. Factors such as age, sex, smoking and psychological factors can play the role of predictor for patient’s outcomes after lumbar disc surgery.