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recovery ratings after surgery for lumbar herniated disc

using a 7-point scale, where "1" is complete recovery and "7" is worse symptoms: on average, people assigned to have surgery soon (the surgery group) rated their recovery as 2.2 at 2 months. people assigned to try non-surgical treatment for 6 months, followed by surgery if their symptoms didn't improve (the non-surgical group) rated their recovery as 3.1 at 2 months. on average, people in the surgery group rated their recovery as 1.9 at 1 year. people in the non-surgical group rated their recovery as 2.1 at 1 year.

in a study of people who had 6 to 12 weeks of severe sciatica related to a herniated disc, one group was assigned to have surgery soon (the surgery group). the other group (the non-surgical group) was assigned to try non-surgical treatments for 6 months, followed by surgery if their symptoms didn't improve.

when asked about their recovery 2 months after surgery or the start of non-surgical treatment, people in the surgery group felt better (closer to complete recovery) than people in the non-surgical group. but after 1 year, both treatment groups rated their recovery about the same.

current as of: july 18, 2023

author: healthwise staff
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