Spine
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Provocative discography in patients after limited lumbar discectomy: A controlled, randomized study of pain response in symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects.
This was a prospective observational study of patients with low back pain and those without after laminotomy and discectomy. ⋯ A high percentage of asymptomatic patients with normal psychometric testing who previously have undergone lumbar discectomy will have significant pain on injection of their discs that had previous surgery (40%). This is not significantly different from the experience of symptomatic patients with normal psychometric testing undergoing discography on discs that had previous surgery. Patients with abnormal psychological profiles have significantly higher rates of positive disc injections than either asymptomatic volunteers or symptomatic subjects with normal psychological screening.