Back pain symptom relieved by tubular lumbar microdiscectomy

Background: This study aimed to determine the impact of discectomy on back pain and to identify the factors associated with back pain improvement. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with lumbar disc herniation who underwent lumbar microdiscectomy at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores for back and leg pain were assessed before and after the tubular lumbar microdiscectomy. Results: A total of 111 patients were included in this study. Pre- and post-operative VAS scores for back pain were 4.86 and 2.59, respectively. For radicular leg pain, pre- and post-operative VAS scores were 4.86 and 2.59, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the preoperative lumbar VAS score was significantly associated with improvement in back pain after tubular discectomy. Conclusion: Tubular microdiscectomy significantly alleviated back pain symptoms in patients with lumbar disc herniation. The findings of this study may help spine surgeons in better educating patients regarding post-operative expectations following this surgical procedure.