Effects of lumbar discectomy on disability and depression in patients with chronic low back pain

Abstract

Background: Back pain is one of the most prevalent health problems for which physicians are consulted. Back pain has many economic impacts, such as sickness absences and long-term disability. The prevalence of major depression in patients with chronic low back pain is approximately 3 to 4 times greater than the prevalence rate reported in the general population. Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the depression and disability improvement after lumbar discectomy compared with presurgery levels in patients with chronic low back pain and radicular leg pain. Patients and Methods: One hundred forty-eight patients with chronic low back pain and radicular leg pain were included in this analytic observational study. The study evaluated several main variables, including age; sex; educational level; job; height; weight; and patient history of abortion, leg pain, back pain, smoking, trauma, number of previous pregnancies, driving, long-term sitting, lifting heavy bodies, and disability and depression before and 6 and 12 months after laminectomy. Results: The depression and disability scores of patients before lumbar discectomy significantly decreased after surgery. Conclusions: Our results indicate that lumbar discectomy surgery significantly improved depression and disability in patients with chronic herniated discs.

Obesity has an impact on outcome in lumbar disc surgery

“…There are studies which show that patients undergoing herniated disc surgery are often affected by depression and that after discectomy, depression status improves significantly during the follow-up [23][24][25]. Farzanegan et al [23] found out that BMI (cut-off point 25) had no effect on this post-operative improvement in depression. In our study, the difference in BDI could only be observed in the truly obese (BMI > 30) group; pre-obese patients displayed results similar to the normalweighted.…”

Pain Management After Surgery: A Brief Review

“…Although many advances have been made in the field of pain management, particularly during the past decades, not all patients achieve complete relief from postoperative pain ( 3 , 5 , 6 ). The myriad aspects in which advances have been made in this field can be summarized as follows: recognizing the molecular target (peripheral or central) for blocking the pain signals, developing functional pharmaceuticals that affect the molecular target, determining the routes and modes of analgesic administration, and developing novel methods of analgesia ( 1 ).…”

Commentary on: Effects of Lumbar Discectomy on Disability and Depression in Patients With Chronic Low-Back Pain

“…In your June 2011 issue, we found an interesting study by Farzanegan et al entitled, “Effects of lumbar discectomy on disability and depression in patients with chronic low-back pain.” ( 1 ). The authors demonstrated the beneficial role of surgery in chronic back pain for patients with disability and depression.…”