title: The outcome of lumbar disc herniation surgery is worse in old adults than in young adults.
abstract: Background and purpose - The outcome of surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) has been thoroughly evaluated in middle-aged patients, but less so in elderly patients. Patients and methods - With validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and using SweSpine (the national Swedish Spine Surgery Register), we analyzed the preoperative clinical status of LDH patients and the 1-year postoperative outcome of LDH surgery performed over the period 2000-2012. We included 1,250 elderly patients (≥ 65 years of age) and 12,840 young and middle-aged patients (aged 20-64). Results - Generally speaking, elderly patients were referred for LDH surgery with worse PROM scores than young and middle-aged patients, they improved less by surgery, they experienced more complications, they had inferior 1-year postoperative PROM scores, and they were less satisfied with the outcome (with all differences being statistically significant). Interpretation - Elderly patients appear to have a worse postoperative outcome after LDH surgery than young and middle-aged patients, they are referred to surgery with inferior clinical status, and they improve less after the surgery.
authors.affiliation: a Clinical and Molecular Osteoporosis Research Unit, Departments of Clinical Sciences and Orthopedics , Lund University, Skane University Hospital , Malmö , Sweden .
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Strömqvist
authors.affiliation: a Clinical and Molecular Osteoporosis Research Unit, Departments of Clinical Sciences and Orthopedics , Lund University, Skane University Hospital , Malmö , Sweden .
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Strömqvist
authors.affiliation: a Clinical and Molecular Osteoporosis Research Unit, Departments of Clinical Sciences and Orthopedics , Lund University, Skane University Hospital , Malmö , Sweden .
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jönsson
authors.affiliation: a Clinical and Molecular Osteoporosis Research Unit, Departments of Clinical Sciences and Orthopedics , Lund University, Skane University Hospital , Malmö , Sweden .
authors.forename: Magnus K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Karlsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017586:Diskectomy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult