SynthesisEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2020
Clinical course of pain and disability following primary lumbar discectomy: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Objectively measured physical activity following lumbar decompression surgery: systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Is pain relief enough? Early response discordance after lumbar decompressive surgery: a prospective cohort study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Observational
- "ULTRA" Lateral Decompression Technique for Lumbar Discectomy: An Evaluation of 30-Day Outcomes From an 8-Year Single Surgeon Experience.International journal of spine surgery · 2026Article
- Association of preoperative co-occurring intervertebral disc-related degenerative features with one-year lumbar discectomy outcomes: A proposal for and preliminary testing of a novel MRI-based criterion.European journal of radiology open · 2026Article
- The intrathecal morphine analgesia for full endoscopic lumbar discectomy: a prospective dose-finding study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Article
- Patient lived experiences of functioning and disability following lumbar discectomy: a secondary analysis of qualitative data.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Article
- Review
- Postoperative Pain Management after Full Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy: An Observational Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Observational
- Postoperative recovery patterns following discectomy surgery in patients with lumbar radiculopathy.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Article
- Cost effectiveness of outpatient lumbar discectomy.Cost effectiveness and resource allocation : C/E · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo conduct a meta-analysis to describe clinical course of pain and disability in adult patients post-lumbar discectomy (PROSPERO: CRD42015020806).
methodsSensitive topic-based search strategy designed for individual databases was conducted. Patients (> 16 years) following first-time lumbar discectomy for sciatica/radiculopathy with no complications, investigated in inception (point of surgery) prospective cohort studies, were included. Studies including revision surgery or not published in English were excluded. Two reviewers independently searched information sources, assessed eligibility at title/abstract and full-text stages, extracted data, assessed risk of bias (modified QUIPs) and assessed GRADE. Authors were contacted to request raw data where data/variance data were missing. Meta-analyses evaluated outcomes at all available time points using the variance-weighted mean in random-effect meta-analyses. Means and 95% CIs were plotted over time for measurements reported on outcomes of leg pain, back pain and disability.
resultsA total of 87 studies (n = 31,034) at risk of bias (49 moderate, 38 high) were included. Clinically relevant improvements immediately following surgery (> MCID) for leg pain (0-10, mean before surgery 7.04, 50 studies, n = 14,910 participants) and disability were identified (0-100, mean before surgery 53.33, 48 studies, n = 15,037). Back pain also improved (0-10, mean before surgery 4.72, 53 studies, n = 14,877). Improvement in all outcomes was maintained (to 7 years). Meta-regression analyses to assess the relationship between outcome data and a priori potential covariates found preoperative back pain and disability predictive for outcome.
conclusionModerate-level evidence supports clinically relevant immediate improvement in leg pain and disability following lumbar discectomy with accompanying improvements in back pain. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.