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Acute lumbar disk injuries in active patients: making optimal management decisions
Mathew W Lively1, Julian E Bailes
1Department of Internal Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA. mlively@wvu.edu.
The Physician and Sportsmedicine
|January 21, 2010
Summary
Most patients with acute lumbar disk herniations improve with conservative care, including early activity. Minimally invasive procedures may help manage sciatic pain, but surgical data for athletes is limited.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedics
- Sports Medicine
- Neurosurgery
Background:
- Acute lumbar disk herniations present management challenges, particularly for active individuals.
- Treatment controversies complicate optimal care decisions for lumbar disk herniations.
- Conservative management, including early activity, generally yields favorable prognoses for lumbar disk herniations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current management strategies for acute lumbar disk herniations in active patients.
- To discuss the role of conservative versus surgical interventions.
- To evaluate treatment options for athletes with lumbar disk injuries.
Main Methods:
- Review of conservative management options for lumbar disk herniations.
- Analysis of minimally invasive techniques for sciatic pain control.
- Evaluation of surgical considerations for athletes with disk injuries.
Main Results:
- Most patients experience improvement with conservative measures like early activity.
- Minimally invasive procedures (e.g., percutaneous diskectomy, laser diskectomy, epidural corticosteroid injection) can aid sciatic pain management.
- Early surgical intervention (microdiskectomy) for athletes with early-season injuries lacks supporting data.
Conclusions:
- Conservative treatment is typically recommended for lumbar disk herniations, especially for late-season athletic injuries.
- Minimally invasive techniques offer options for pain control.
- Further research is needed to support early surgical intervention for athletes with early-season lumbar disk injuries.
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