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Abstract
Background: To assess the relief of leg pain after
fenestration and microdiscectomy in patients having
sciatica due to lumbar intervertebral disc prolapse.
Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional study 100
patients both male and female, undergoing fenestration
and microdiscectomy for prolapsed unilateral single level
lumbar intervertebral disc, were selected. Leg pain was
assessed using visual analogue scale (VAS) before surgery.
Postoperative leg pain was assessed using VAS on 3rd
postoperative day and 7th postoperative day. Preoperative
and postoperative pain scores were noted and compared.
Results: Out of total 100 patients 74 were male and 26
were female Age distribution was from 20 to 65 years.
Mean age was 38.18± 9.29. The mean decrease in VAS leg
pain score was 3.72 points (mean preoperative 7.07 to mean
postoperative 3.35 at 3rd postoperative day). The mean
decrease in VAS leg pain score was 3.87 points (mean
preoperative 7.07 to mean postoperative 3.20 at 7th
postoperative day).Majority (92%) reported a decrease in
greater than 2 points at both 3rd and 7th postoperative days.
Conclusion: In comparison to microdiscectomy, disc
excision by fenestration has yielded almost comparable
results.