TY - JOUR
AU - Hutton, Dana
AU - Mohamed, Belal
AU - Mehmood, Khalid
AU - Magro, James
AU - Shekhar, Himanshu
AU - Solth, Anna
AU - Pulhorn, Heinke
AU - Bennett, David
AU - Okasha, Mohamed
PY - 2023
DA - November
TI - COVID-19 and Spontaneous Resolution of Lumbar Disc Prolapse: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Patients Awaiting Microdiscectomy
JO - Journal of Neurological Surgery. Part A, Central European Neurosurgery
DO - https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2206-2718
AB - INTRODUCTION: Between individual patients with lumbar disc prolapse (LDP), the natural course of disease is significantly variable. Spontaneous resolution is reported to occur in up to 70% of cases. However, we currently cannot predict for whom and when this will occur. Neurosurgical intervention is indicated for LDP patients with non-tolerable pain after at least 8-12 weeks of conservative management, or significant neurological deficit. Channelling essential resources in the National Health Service (NHS) to fight the COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of most elective operations, including microdiscectomy. This left many LDP patients previously considered to be surgical candidates with conservative-only options in the interim. To our knowledge, we are the first centre to report the specific impact of the peri- and post-pandemic period on waiting list times, delayed elective microdiscectomy, and the incidence of spontaneous LDP resolution.
PB - Georg Thieme Verlag
UR - https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/28de57df-2e90-4e46-bf9c-2f8577bd9d58
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER