The application of lumbar discography in the diagnosis and treatment of the discogenic low back pain

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the diagnostic value of lumbar discography in discogenic low back pain and the effects of intervertebral fusion surgery. METHODS: Forty-five cases with 101 discs underwent discography, 360 degree fusion manipulation were performed on 18 discography abnormal cases, 27 cases were treated conservatively. Discography, MRI and provocative pain were observed and all the cases were followed up. RESULTS: Twenty-one cases showed positive provocative pain (21/45, 47%), and 21 discs of 101 were concordant discography (21/101, 21%). All cases were followed up for an average 16 months (15 to 23 months), the satisfactory rate was 83% (15/18) in the surgery group and 41% (11/27) in the conservative group. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that the discography is moderately sensitive in the diagnosis of discogenic low back pain. Furthermore, the short term follow-up reveals that operative group has better pain relief than conservative group.