ReviewCureus2020
Sciatica Presentations and Predictors of Poor Outcomes Following Surgical Decompression of Herniated Lumbar Discs: A Review Article.
Review in Cureus, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effect of symptom duration on the outcomes of lumbar discectomy for radicular pain secondary to lumbar disc herniation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.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 · 2025Pooled it
- Percutaneous endoscopic interlaminar discectomy in patients with lumbar disc herniation: risk factors and thresholds for adverse outcomes.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 · 2026Article
- Factors predicting outcomes from chronic pain management interventions.BMJ medicine · 2025Review
- The Effectiveness of High Intensity Laser in Improving Motor Deficits in Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Vascular loops mimicking herniated lumbar discs: fair warning.Neurosurgical review · 2024Article
- Article
- Bipolar radiofrequency ablation of the superomedial (SM), superolateral (SL) and inferomedial (IM) genicular nerves for chronic osteoarthritis knee pain: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial with 12-month follow-up.Regional anesthesia and pain medicine · 2022Article
- Risk Factors, Prevention, and Primary and Secondary Management of Sciatica: An Updated Overview.Cureus · 2022Review
- Multicenter study evaluating factors associated with treatment outcome for low back pain injections.Regional anesthesia and pain medicine · 2022Article
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
Pain associated with sciatica is one of the most common indications for surgery. The annual rate of discectomy has increased over recent years, with a significant number of patients reporting a poor outcome or symptom recurrence after surgery. This study aims to evaluate the predictors of poor outcome for patients undergoing lumbar discectomy for sciatica. A comprehensive search was conducted to find relevant literature published between 1985 and 2019. All literature with a clear methodology were included. Many factors that affect postoperative recovery after lumbar discectomy have been reported. Some evidence suggests that sociodemographic factors, including female gender, smoking, increased age, low socioeconomic status, and low education level may be associated with less favorable outcomes after surgery. Symptom duration does not appear to be associated with a significant difference in long-term outcomes; however, early surgery (within one year) may result in a faster postoperative recovery with better early results. Furthermore, patients who had discectomy for predominant leg pain had better outcomes compared to those who had the surgery for back pain as the main presentation. There was no evidence to suggest a correlation between the size of the herniated disc and long-term outcomes of sciatica; however, a higher anatomical level of herniation (L1-2, L2-3) was associated with poorer outcomes compared to the lower level of herniation (L3-4, L4-5). A few studies suggested slow postoperative recovery correlates with unemployment and depression. We recommend that the predictors of postoperative outcomes should be taken into consideration when selecting or counseling patients for lumbar disc decompression.
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Registered trials
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.