Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Disease in the Pediatric Population

Lumbar disc herniation surgery in children: outcome and gender differences

“…This is an inferior outcome than in both our and most other pediatric studies [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]24]. The outcome in our study was also superior to when within the SweSpine register evaluating LDH surgery in adults [3].…”

“…Generally, thus, LDH surgery in children seems to be a most rewarding procedure. Retrospective studies have reported good or excellent outcome in 75-100 % of young individuals with LDH surgery, the inferences, however, based on low level of evidence [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Our study, therefore, fulfills a need in being both prospective and using validated PROMs.…”

“…Surgery is also recommended after unsuccessful non-operative treatment, especially if the leg pain exceeds the back pain. There are, however, authors who suggest that surgical intervention should be advocated earlier when treating children, since the non-operative outcome is reported to be inferior in children compared to adults and the surgical outcome seems to be superior [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Such a treatment strategy would then reduce the period of disability and facilitate return to school.…”

“…Growing patients with LDH usually present with the same symptoms as adults, but more often with a positive straight leg raising test (SLR) [14] and in fewer cases with neurological deficits [11]. Reports also show that growing patients with LDH, who are referred to surgery, experience reduced quality of life compared with the normal agematched population [17], but with less disability than being reported in adults with LDH [6].…”

Surgically treated lumbar disc disease in the pediatric population: an outcome study

“…Although the consensus in the literature is that pediatric lumbar disc disease is generally associated with a "good" outcome, 4,7,11,13,15,16,[18][19][20][21]24,26,32,34 there is no study to date of a formal outcome analysis in which standardized medical outcome scales are used in this patient population. In adults, poor outcome after lumbar disc surgery, known as "failedback syndrome," is associated with poor work performance, Workers' Compensation litigation, mechanical back pain, psychiatric problems, and narcotic drug abuse, all of which contribute to considerable functional and economic disability.…”