Chemonucleolysis versus open discectomy. A ten-year follow-up study.
Retrospectively 156 patients with an average follow-up period of 10.3 years were classified in two groups. Group I, 85 patients, chose chymopapain as their primary treatment. Group II, 71 patients, elected to have a laminectomy with discectomy. Overall, 98% of patients responded to follow-up investigations. Based on several well-accepted pain outcome measures there were no significant differences between the two groups at ten years. Recurrence rates, however, were greater following open discectomy at one- and ten-year follow-up examination. The question of when to return a patient to work yielded interesting results. Those patients returning to work before feeling completely recovered from symptoms had a poorer outcome at final follow-up examination.
J N
JN
Weinstein
T R
TR
Lehmann
W
W
Hejna
T
T
McNeill
K
K
Spratt
D000328:Adult; D002917:Chymopapain / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D007796:Laminectomy; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance
D002917:Chymopapain