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For adults with symptomatic lumbar disc herniation, unilateral biportal endoscopic (UBE) microdiscectomy is associated with longer operating times and with lower pain medication consumption in the early postoperative period compared with tubular lumbar microdiscectomy, according to a study Charla Fischer, M.D. and colleagues examined surgical outcomes and pain medication consumption for UBE versus tubular lumbar microdiscectomy in a retrospective cohort study of adults undergoing primary, single-level UBE or tubular lumbar microdiscectomy surgery at a high-volume institution. Data were included for 102 patients: 48 undergoing UBE and 54 tubular lumbar microdiscectomy. The researchers found that the average operative time was higher...

Only around one in 10 common non-surgical and non-invasive treatments for lower back pain are effective, suggests a pooled data analysis. And the pain relief they offer is only marginally better than that achieved with a placebo. Low back pain is common and debilitating, and 80–90% of it is categorized as non-specific, because there's no immediately identifiable cause. A total of 301 trials investigating 56 different treatments or treatment combinations were included in the pooled data analysis. The most common interventions were NSAIDs (27 trials), opioids (26 trials), laser and light therapy (25), acupuncture (24), and gentle manual therapy (mobilization;...

Background/Aim: Increased oxidative stress plays a crucial role in pathogenesis of various diseases. The present study aims to investigate glutathione reductase (GR) and malondialdehyde (MDA) enzymes as markers of oxidative stress mechanisms in lumbar disc degeneration disease (LDDD). Patients and Methods: The study group consisted of 39 patients diagnosed with LDD and 37 healthy individuals in the control group. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to determine serum GR and MDA levels in the two study groups. Results: Serum GR levels were significantly lower (p=0.008), while MDA levels were significantly higher in the patient group compared to the...

I may have a blown disk, my L5, sciatic nerve pain is phenominal.