A total of 52 patients were enrolled, 25 in Group 1 and 27 in Group 2 (Table 1). The mean postoperative follow-up period was 18 months in Group 1 (range, 12–24 mo) and 18.2 months in Group 2 (range, 14–24 mo). In Group 1 (OD), there were 10 men and 15 women, with a mean age of 58 + 12.4 years. The vertebral level affected was L4–L5 in 14 patients (57.9%), L5–S1 in eight patients (42.1%) and double level in 3 patients. All patients in Group 1 presented with preoperative neurologenic claudication; 0% had motor deficits, 72% had sensory deficits (18 out of 25), and 40% had impaired or absent reflexes (10 out of 25). After 6 months of follow-up, 37% had motor deficit, 42% had sensory deficit, and 63% had altered reflexes. After 12 months, these …show more content…
Opioid therapy was used in three patients (14%). The complications observed in this group were a recurrence of the disc herniation after 18 months requiring surgical treatment in one patient, a seroma that resolved spontaneously with complete recovery in one patient, and a dural tear that resolved with conservative treatment prolonging hospital stay to 48 hours in one patient. When comparing Group 1 (OD) with Group 2 (MED), the only statistically significant differences found were for the following variables: the size of the incision, length of hospi- tal stay, operative time, and immediate postoperative pain at the incision. The two former variables were greater in the OD group (P 0.01 and P 0.05, respectively), and the latter two were greater in the MED group (P 0.01 in both) (Tables 1 and 3). The VAS score (Fig. 1) and Oswestry Disability Index (Fig. 2) improved significantly in Groups 1 and 2 postoperatively, and there was only one statistically significant difference in VAS after 12 hours of surgery (Table 3). The mean time to return to work and normal activities was 21 days in both groups, ranging from 7 to 60 days in Group 1 and from 4 to 45 days in Group 2. The difference between the groups was not found