Abstract

Background: Lumbar microdiscectomy is considered the gold standard in the surgical treatment of patients with lumbar disc herniation. This study evaluated the clinical outcomes of lumbar microdiscectomy in geriatric patients who underwent surgery in our clinic and determined whether there was a significant difference in clinical outcomes between the two genders in this population.

Methods: This study included 60 geriatric patients aged ≥ 65 years who underwent lumbar microdiscectomy between April 2015 and May 2019 for lumbar disc herniation. Preoperative and postoperative visual analog scale and Oswestry Disability Index scores were calculated and compared separately for both genders. Statistical analyses were performed using statistical package for the social sciences version 22.0 software.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 72.22 ± 6.06 years and the mean length of stay in the operating room and hospital were 172.83 ± 37.19 min and 1643.18 ± 647.05 min, respectively. Although there was a significant decrease in postoperative visual analog scale and Oswestry Disability Index scores compared to preoperative scores, no significant difference was observed between the genders. The success rate for excellent or good results according to the modified Macnab criteria was 91.66% in all groups.

Conclusion: In the surgical treatment of geriatric patients with lumbar disc herniation, lumbar microdiscectomy is an effective and safe method since it is associated with low complication rates and high success rates. No significant difference was found between genders in terms of clinical outcomes in this age group.