Comparison of Operative Results of Lumbar Disc Herniation in Manual Laborers and Athletes

Short-Term Outcome of Conservative Treatment in Athletes with Symptomatic Lumbar Disc Herniation

“…1,2 Sakou et al 1 reported that athletes could generally return to their original sporting activities within 2 mos after percutaneous discectomy, although some cases required secondary surgery because of a poor outcome. Matsunaga et al 2 reported that the time until return of the subjects to their respective sporting activities was significantly shorter (an average of 7.5 wks) after percutaneous discectomy than after standard discectomy or discectomy with spinal fusion. In contrast to conventional surgery (standard discectomy), paravertebral muscle damage is minimal in percutaneous discectomy, with a low rate of postoperative complications.…”

Fitness for work after surgery for lumbar disc herniation: a retrospective study

“…After 1 year, work incapacity curves have a flat shape, indicating that only a minority of these patients will return to a working life. Matsunaga et al found a rate of work resumption of 53% 1 year after a single discectomy, 89% after a disc operation with fusion and 58% after percutaneous nucleotomy [11]. Other authors pointed out that 80-90% of patients return to work after a discectomy [10,14].…”

Predictors for work incapacity continuing after disc surgery

“…Apart from studies on clinical or medical prognosticators, several investigations have been carried out on the significance of psychological, social, and personal factors associated with a poor surgical outcome (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Most studies report a relation between job function or social status and surgical result (18)(19)(20)(21); they have also found that older age and depression is associated with less favorable outcomes (14,18,22).…”