Stand-Alone Open Disectomy versus Fixation in Management of Recurrent Lumbar Disc Prolapse

Abstract

Abstract Objectives: Current surgical treatment options for one-time recurrent lumbar disc herniation (RLDH) include repeat discectomy or discectomy supplemented with fusion. Significant contention exists within the surgical spine community with regard to the most effective treatment modality. The objective of this study is to compare reoperation rates and patient reported outcomes following fusion versus repeat discectomy for RLDH. Patients and Methods: The electronic literature search was performed in Ovid Medline/Pubmed, EMBASE and Cochrane, for human studies directly comparing repeat discectomy with fusion for ipsilateral or contralateral RLDH. Using mean differences (MD) and odds ratios (OR) for continuous and categorical outcomes, respectively.