Clinical characteristics and treatment for patients with low back and leg pain caused by lumbar annular tears

To investigate whether annular tears is a cause of low back and radiating leg pain and explore the clinical characteristics and treatment for patients with this condition. A total of 34 patients with low back and radiating leg pain, but without lumbar disc herniation on CT (computed tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), were examined by electrophysiological studies and discography to identify whether there were or not annular tears and nerve root injury and decipher the relations between them. The series included 15 males and 19 females with an average age of 45.6 years old and the average duration of symptoms was 25.8 months. All patients with annular tears and positive pain provocation test were treated by local windowing decompression and debridement of nucleus pulposus after failed conservative treatment. The pre- and post-operative functions and pain were evaluated by JOA (Japanese Orthopedic Association) and VAS (visual analog scale) scores respectively. The average follow-up was 17.4 months.