Neuropathic Pain in Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Comparative Study of Surgical Outcomes

Background: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of neuropathic pain in patients diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation and to examine the correlation between neuropathic pain and surgical intervention. Material and methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study involving 217 patients diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation who reported persistent low back pain from January to December 2023. We assessed the existence of neuropathic pain using the Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4) questionnaire. We evaluated pain severity using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). We categorized the patients into three groups: non-operated, operated without stabilization, and operated with stabilization. Results: The patients had a mean age of 45.09 ± 14.28 years, with 57.6% being male. A DN4 score of > 4 indicated that neuropathic pain was present in more than half (51.2%) of the patients. The prevalence of neuropathic pain was 32.8% in the non-operated cohort, 67.3% in the operated cohort without stabilization, and 85% in the operated cohort with stabilization. Age exhibited a positive link with neuropathic pain score (r = 0.16, p