A Study of Conservative versus Operative Management in Lumbar Disc Disease

Background: Chronic back pain is one of the greatest problem related to decreased quality of life of the Patient. 80 % of the population is affected by this symptom at some time of life. We have tried to analyze the efficacy and clinical outcome of lumbar disc prolapse managed either by conservative treatment or open disc surgery. Aimsand Objective: To study the clinical presentations of patients with intervertebral disc prolapse and To evaluate outcomes of both conservative and surgical management in Intervertebral disc disease in lumbar spine. Materials andMethods: This non-randomized prospective study was undertaken in the department of orthopaedic, Smimer Hospital, Surat, Gujarat, India. This study include data of 50 patients in which 25 treated with surgical intervention and 25 patient were treated conservatively. All patients were on follow up with minimum duration of 6 month. Results: conservatively treated group most patients (24) had only occasional low backache. Similarly, 24 had occasional tingling or leg pain. In surgically treated group 25 patients had complete relief/slight or occasional from backache or leg pain. Conclusion: Outcome of results depends on duration of presentation, the adequacy of decompression, asepsis, the nature of rehabilitation program following surgery, inherent stability of spine and patient’s compliance. The long-term outcomes of surgery and conservative management though sometimes considered similar, but in short term, surgery provides the prospect of quicker relief.