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Symptomatic Disc Herniations: A Review to Understand Pathophysiology and Prediction of Outcomes

Received: 28 February 2017     Accepted: 24 March 2017     Published: 10 April 2017
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Abstract

Lumbar disc herniation is a common condition with a significant impact on health and economics worldwide. Although deemed unrequired in the majority of cases; surgery has a cardinal role in the management of this disease. Most patients will experience symptomatic improvement following conservative treatment, in fact some will experience complete recovery of their symptoms. Nonetheless the mechanism behind this spontaneous improvement is currently poorly understood, yet it offers the potential to inform therapeutic options that might promote more rapid recovery and prevent the establishment of long-term complications. This review summarises the available literature on the pathophysiological events occurring following lumbar disc herniation, with some relevant reflections on the clinical picture. Also the review highlights the current gaps in our knowledge, and stresses some of the debatable concepts in managing the disease, in order to identify areas where future research might help explain the process of spontaneous recovery from symptomatic lumbar disc herniations and also suggest direction of further research to have a positive impact about outcomes.

Published in Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience (Volume 1, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11
Page(s) 24-33
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Lumbar Disc Herniation, Disc Prolapse, Pathophysiology, Radiculopathy

References
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    Tagbo Ilozue, Mohamed Abdelsadg, Avinash Kumar Kanodia, Kismet Hossain-Ibrahim. (2017). Symptomatic Disc Herniations: A Review to Understand Pathophysiology and Prediction of Outcomes. Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience, 1(2), 24-33. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11

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    ACS Style

    Tagbo Ilozue; Mohamed Abdelsadg; Avinash Kumar Kanodia; Kismet Hossain-Ibrahim. Symptomatic Disc Herniations: A Review to Understand Pathophysiology and Prediction of Outcomes. Clin. Neurol. Neurosci. 2017, 1(2), 24-33. doi: 10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11

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    AMA Style

    Tagbo Ilozue, Mohamed Abdelsadg, Avinash Kumar Kanodia, Kismet Hossain-Ibrahim. Symptomatic Disc Herniations: A Review to Understand Pathophysiology and Prediction of Outcomes. Clin Neurol Neurosci. 2017;1(2):24-33. doi: 10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11,
      author = {Tagbo Ilozue and Mohamed Abdelsadg and Avinash Kumar Kanodia and Kismet Hossain-Ibrahim},
      title = {Symptomatic Disc Herniations: A Review to Understand Pathophysiology and Prediction of Outcomes},
      journal = {Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience},
      volume = {1},
      number = {2},
      pages = {24-33},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cnn.20170102.11},
      abstract = {Lumbar disc herniation is a common condition with a significant impact on health and economics worldwide. Although deemed unrequired in the majority of cases; surgery has a cardinal role in the management of this disease. Most patients will experience symptomatic improvement following conservative treatment, in fact some will experience complete recovery of their symptoms. Nonetheless the mechanism behind this spontaneous improvement is currently poorly understood, yet it offers the potential to inform therapeutic options that might promote more rapid recovery and prevent the establishment of long-term complications. This review summarises the available literature on the pathophysiological events occurring following lumbar disc herniation, with some relevant reflections on the clinical picture. Also the review highlights the current gaps in our knowledge, and stresses some of the debatable concepts in managing the disease, in order to identify areas where future research might help explain the process of spontaneous recovery from symptomatic lumbar disc herniations and also suggest direction of further research to have a positive impact about outcomes.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AU  - Avinash Kumar Kanodia
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    Y1  - 2017/04/10
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11
    T2  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
    JF  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
    JO  - Clinical Neurology and Neuroscience
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cnn.20170102.11
    AB  - Lumbar disc herniation is a common condition with a significant impact on health and economics worldwide. Although deemed unrequired in the majority of cases; surgery has a cardinal role in the management of this disease. Most patients will experience symptomatic improvement following conservative treatment, in fact some will experience complete recovery of their symptoms. Nonetheless the mechanism behind this spontaneous improvement is currently poorly understood, yet it offers the potential to inform therapeutic options that might promote more rapid recovery and prevent the establishment of long-term complications. This review summarises the available literature on the pathophysiological events occurring following lumbar disc herniation, with some relevant reflections on the clinical picture. Also the review highlights the current gaps in our knowledge, and stresses some of the debatable concepts in managing the disease, in order to identify areas where future research might help explain the process of spontaneous recovery from symptomatic lumbar disc herniations and also suggest direction of further research to have a positive impact about outcomes.
    VL  - 1
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Neurosurgery, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, UK

  • Department of Neurosurgery, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK

  • Department of Radiology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK

  • Department of Neurosurgery, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, UK

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