[MR tomography following lumbar disk surgery: differential diagnostic potentials using Gd-DTPA]

55 patients were examined by magnetic resonance imaging after lumbar disk operation. The results indicate that with Gd-DTPA there is a significantly increased signal intensity along the surgical approach directly after surgery and during the early postoperative period. Whereas herniated or sequestered disk did not enhance with Gd-DTPA, in epidural fibrosis - regardless of the age of the scarification - diagnostic enhancement was obvious. In 82 percent nerve roots engulfed by scar tissue were differentiated after Gd-DTPA; even enlarged nerve roots and changes of arachnoiditis could be differentiated from each other.