Lumbar discography. Its value in diagnosis and treatment of lumbar disc lesions.

Abstract

Lumbar discography has been performed in over 1500 patients at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, and a report concerning 683 cases has been previously published. The authors review an additional 199 cases, finding that decision making was influenced by discography in 155 cases (78%). A positive discogram was surgically confirmed in 111 patients (56%). In 14(7%) the disc was found to be normal at surgery. One hundred six patients (53%) had positive discograms with negative or equivocal myelogram. In 36 patients with a positive myelogram, the discogram was corroborative, although most patients with positive myelograms did not have discography. Sixty-nine patients (35%) did not have surgery.