Sensory function recovery of patients with predominant lumbar radiculopathy after decompression surgery

Objective To evaluate the time course of sensory function recovery in patients with predominant lumbar radiculopathy after lumbar nerve root decompression surgery. Methods Pain drawing before operation, at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1-year after operation and the recovery rate of different sensory symptoms in 60 patients with predominant lumbar radiculopathy who received surgery in our hospital from March to August in 2014 were retrospectively reviewed and compared. Results Of the 60 patients, 52 cases had pain, 43 cases had numbness, 31 cases had paresthesia, and 20 cases had all the 3 types of sensory symptoms. Mean pain score decreased fastest at 6 weeks after operation 55.7%, (67.1±11.3) vs (151.3±19.2) with moderate improvement in 1-year follow-up, while no statistical significance was found when compared with that of previous follow-up. The numbness and paresthesia scores showed faster recovery during the initial 6-week (22.2%, 21.6%), and then kept a slow speed of recovery until 1-year follow-up. Conclusion In lumbar radiculopathy patients after decompression surgery of our study, pain recovers the fastest in the first 6 weeks after operation, followed by paresthesia and numbness recovers at a slow speed lasting for 1 year.