GADOLINIUM-ENHANCED MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING OF 36 PATIENTS ONE-YEAR AFTER LUMBAR DISC RESECTION

A prospective study of 36 patients with radicular leg pain and lumbar herniation who underwent single-level disc resection is presented. Cli nical follow-up was combined with a gadolinium-DPTA MRI examination, 1 year after surgery. Disc herniation was still present in eight patien ts and four of these did not have any significant radicular pain. Anot her 15 patients had a small protrusion at the site of the former herni ation. Twenty-three patients showed evidence of scar tissue. The nerve root was displaced in 12 patients and was thickened in 16 patients, r espectively. Clinically, 19 patients recovered from leg pain, 14 patie nts improved, and 3 patients remained unchanged compared with preopera tive symptoms. There was no consistent correlation between postoperati ve back pain or radicular leg pain and MR findings.