Background: Lumbar intervertebral disc herniation (LDH) is the most common source of lumbar radiculopathy. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is considered the diagnostic imaging procedure of choice for LDH as it can provide exquisite morphologic details of the disc abnormality. The aim of this study was to determine if baseline MRI findings, including disc herniation size, is associated with differential surgical treatment effect. Method: This study was conducted on Benha university hospitals on 36 patients who underwent lumbar discectomy to estimate the role of MRI as a predictor of surgical outcome (by comparison between preoperative and postoperative leg and back pain scores, as well as functional status measured using the modified oswestry disability index (MODI). Results: The ages of patients were 21-51± 36 years, 22 patients (61.1 %) were males and 14 patients (38.9 %) were females. All these patients suffered from back and leg pain and 69.44% of them with lower extremity pain, 77.78% of them with sciatica, hypoesthesia and/or leg weakness was reported in 36.11% of cases. Conclusion: It can be concluded that MRI finding especially disc size and disc height can predict the surgical outcome. Patients with larger disc herniation, on average, may have a higher likelihood of experiencing superior clinical outcomes following discectomy. Additional findings seem to support that a patient’s preoperative functional score has the strongest influence on postoperative clinical outcome. |
