Comprehensive Treatment of Discopathies of the Lumbar Spine

Abstract

Introduction. Degenerative disc disease is one of the most common diseases of the musculoskeletal system, characterized by dystrophic changes in the intervertebral disc and vertebral bodies adjacent to it. The main symptoms of this disease are pain and sensory and motor disorders, which, according to various authors, occur in 50–80% of adults. The main objective of the study was to find and implement the optimal set of treatment measures for degenerative disc disease depending on the age of a patient. Materials and Methods. The medical records of inpatients who were treated in the Neurosurgical Department of the Sumy Regional Clinical Hospital in 2019–2020 were analyzed. The course of treatment of 93 patients (61 men and 32 women) was studied. The patients were divided into groups according to their age: young age (under 25) – 13 men and 8 women; middle age (under 60) – 24 men and 19 women; and elderly age (over 60 years) – 18 men and 11 women. The combined use of pathogenetically justified physiotherapeutic measures in the treatment complex is gaining more and more interest. Their distinctive features are physiologic nature, absence of allergic manifestations, the ability to influence most of the pathogenesis of the disease, and the organic combination with other therapeutic factors. Unfortunately, there is an increase in the incidence of temporary incapacitation and progressive course, which often leads to disability and significant financial costs associated with expensive modern methods of diagnosis, treatment, and further provision of employment to patients. The results of our study show that complex treatment including pathogenetic drug therapy, complex paravertebral block, therapeutic physical exercise, and physiotherapy treatment methods provides adequate recovery of spinal function regardless of dystrophic and degenerative changes severity and patient's age. Treatment of degenerative disc disease should be comprehensive and directed at the various symptoms and links of the pathological process.