A new study published in Spine examines the outcomes for lumbar disc surgery for women with inferior preoperative status.
The researchers examined the Swedish National Spine Surgical Register and include 11,237 patients in the study. The patients underwent spine surgery from 2000 to 2010. The researchers found:
1. The end point variables improved markedly at a similar rate between men and women.
2. The female patients were more likely to report higher consumption of analgesic, they experienced more impaired walking, back and leg pain and an inferior quality of life. The female patients also reported more disability.
3. Improvement between men and women undergoing lumbar spine surgery was similar one year after surgery.
4. Female patients still reported more analgesic consumption, impaired walking distance, back and leg pain and higher disability with impaired quality of life one year after surgery.
5. The researchers concluded the one year outcomes are inferior in women when compared to men.