Operacijsko liječenje sindroma bolnih križa i lumboishijalgije

Introduction: Low back pain is one of the most common syndromes of the modern society. As a rule, this condition is caused by a herniated intervertebral disk. The aim of this article is to evaluate two surgical approaches to low back pain and pain radiating to the leg – a refined classical procedure, i.e. microdiscectomy, and the same procedure coupled with the implantation of a protetic device – Barricaid™. Patients and methods: Patients of both genders were included, with an age range of 18 to 70 years. The group of patients that underwent the classical approach consisted of 46 patients with the median age of 41,1 ± 8,6 years. The group of patients to whom Barricaid™ was implanted consisted of 30 patients (16 males and 14 females) with the median age of 38,2 ±9,5 years. Each of the three clinical results (VAS for leg pain, VAS for back pain and ODI), and the disk height was compared between the two groups of patients. Results: Better results were achieved in the group with the Barricaid™ implants, specifically for the VAS back pain result (97 % vs. 70 %, P = 0,016) and ODI (100 % vs. 87 %, P = 0,08). Conclusions: Our results point to the fact that maintaining the disk space and height decreases the accelerated degenerative processes of the affected spinal segment and assures more long lasting positive effects on decreasing the pain as well as the neurological symptoms.