Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32875890›Full record

ArticleGlobal spine journal2021

Caudal Lumbar Disc Herniations Are More Likely to Require Surgery for Symptom Resolution.

Anmol Gupta, Shivam Upadhyaya, Caleb M Yeung, Peter J Ostergaard, Harold A Fogel, Thomas Cha, Joseph Schwab, Chris Bono, Stuart Hershman

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Global spine journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 32% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
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  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Anmol Gupta5925Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8320-740X
Shivam Upadhyaya2348Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Caleb M Yeung2348Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Peter J Ostergaard2348Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Harold A Fogel2348Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Thomas Cha2348Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Joseph Schwab2348Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Chris Bono2348Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Stuart Hershman2348Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Harvard University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

designRetrospective study.

objectivesWe examined the impact that location of a lumbar disc herniation has on the likelihood that a patient will require surgery after at least 6 weeks of nonoperative management.

methodsUsing ICD-10 codes M51.26 and M51.27, we identified patients at a single academic institution from 2015 to 2016 who received a diagnosis of primary lumbar radicular pain, had magnetic resonance imaging confirming a lumbar disc herniation, and underwent at least 6 weeks of nonoperative management. Patients experiencing symptoms suggesting cauda equina syndrome or progressive motor deficits were excluded.

resultsFive hundred patients met inclusion/exclusion criteria. Twenty-nine (5.8%) had L3-L4 herniations, 245 (49.0%) had L4-L5 herniations, and 226 (45.2%) had L5-S1 herniations. Overall, 451 (90.2%) patients did not undergo surgery within 1 year of diagnosis. Nonsurgical patients had an average herniation size occupying 31.2% of the canal, compared with 31.5% in patients who underwent surgery. While herniation size, age, sex, and race failed to demonstrate a statistical association with the likelihood for surgery, location of disc herniation demonstrated a strong association. L3-L4 and L4-L5 herniations had odds ratios of 0.19 and 0.45, respectively, relative to L5-S1 herniations (

conclusionsPatients with caudal lumbar disc herniations were more likely to require surgery after at least 6 weeks of conservative management than those with disc herniations in the mid-lumbar spine.

Indexed as

discectomydisc herniationlow back painlumbarlumbosacralnonoperative managementorthopaedicradiculopathyradiologyspine

Identifiers

PMID32875890
PMCPMC8013954
OpenAlexW3007039078

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.