AUTHOR=Jiang Yan-Wei , Zhou Mao-chao 
  
TITLE=Back pain symptom relieved by tubular lumbar microdiscectomy
  
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Surgery
  
VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2025
  
YEAR=2026
  
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/surgery/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2025.1702002
  
DOI=10.3389/fsurg.2025.1702002
  
ISSN=2296-875X
  
ABSTRACT=BackgroundThis study aimed to determine the impact of discectomy on back pain and to identify the factors associated with back pain improvement.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on patients with lumbar disc herniation who underwent lumbar microdiscectomy at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores for back and leg pain were assessed before and after the tubular lumbar microdiscectomy.ResultsA total of 111 patients were included in this study. Pre- and post-operative VAS scores for back pain were 4.86 and 2.59, respectively. For radicular leg pain, pre- and post-operative VAS scores were 4.86 and 2.59, respectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the preoperative lumbar VAS score was significantly associated with improvement in back pain after tubular discectomy.ConclusionTubular microdiscectomy significantly alleviated back pain symptoms in patients with lumbar disc herniation. The findings of this study may help spine surgeons in better educating patients regarding post-operative expectations following this surgical procedure.