Patients with sciatica still experience pain and disability 5 years after surgery: A systematic review with meta‐analysis of cohort studies

Abstract

Although surgery is followed by a rapid decrease in pain and disability by 3 months, patients still experience mild to moderate pain and disability 5 years after surgery. WHAT DOES THIS REVIEW ADD?: This review provides a quantitative summary of the postoperative course of patients with sciatica. Patients with sciatica experienced a rapid reduction in pain and disability in the first 3 months, but still had mild to moderate symptoms 5 years after surgery. Although no significant differences were found, microdiscectomy showed larger improvements compared to other surgical techniques.

PREPARE: presurgery physiotherapy for patients with degenerative lumbar spine disorder: a randomized controlled trial

“…Spinal stenosis is the most common degenerative lumbar spine disorder requiring surgery [1,2], followed by disc herniation and to a smaller extent, spondylolisthesis and degenerative disc disease (DDD) [2]. Surgery for radiculopathy due to disc herniation, and spinal stenosis has been shown to result in large improvements at 3 months follow-up, but mild to moderate improvements for pain and disability at 5-year follow-up [3,4]. Guideline recommendations are that non-surgical interventions should be exhausted prior to decision making about surgery for spinal stenosis [5], disc herniation [6] and spondylolisthesis [7].…”

Lifestyle Risk Factors Increase the Risk of Hospitalization for Sciatica: Findings of Four Prospective Cohort Studies

“…[3][4][5] Sciatica is a more persistent and disabling condition than other low back syndromes. 6 The majority of sciatica cases are, however, treated conservatively, and only a small proportion of the cases eventually need surgery. 1,2,7 In general, sciatica is a relatively uncommon cause for hospitalization.…”

Mobilização neural aplicada em diferentes locais sobre a compressão do nervo isquiático de ratos Wistar

“…Embora geralmente não ameace a vida do paciente, as lesões nervosas periféricas representam um pesado fardo social, tanto devido a longos períodos de invalidez quanto por custos econômicos 10,15 . Por esta razão, inúmeros estudos buscam o melhor tratamento para acelerar a regeneração tecidual e a recuperação funcional dessas lesões 16,17 .…”

“…Destas, cita-se o tratamento osteopático, exercícios físicos, orientações posturais, treino de flexibilidade e recursos eletrotermofototerapêuticos. Com o fracasso do tratamento conservador, recorre-se ao tratamento cirúrgico 10 .…”