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Eur Spine J (2010) 19:205214 DOI 10.1007/s00586-009-1202-7
REVIEW ARTICLE
A review of current treatment for lumbar disc herniation in children and adolescents
Lei Dang Zhongjun Liu
Received: 13 June 2009 / Revised: 15 October 2009 / Accepted: 18 October 2009 / Published online: 5 November 2009 Springer-Verlag 2009
Abstract Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common disorder among adults with degenerated lumbar intervertebral discs. However, its occurrence in childhood and adolescence is much less frequent mostly because children and adolescents tend to have a healthier lumbar spine as compared with adults. This difference indicates that children and adolescents are far from being just little adults. Over the years, there have constantly been published studies concerning this entity where the ndings suggested that pediatric LDH is, in many ways, different from that in adults. To date, the prevalence, the etiological and the diagnostic features of pediatric LDH have been fully described in the literature whereas the characteristics regarding to the treatment is yet to be reviewed in details. The aim of the present review is to provide a collective opinion on the treatment of pediatric LDH as well as its outcome. It reviewed the relevant information available in the literature and compared the results among and within various treatments. It was found that pediatric patients responded less favorably to conservative treatment as compared with adults. In addition, the outcome of surgery remained to be satisfactory for at least 10 years after the initial operation, even though it appeared to deteriorate slightly. To the best of our knowledge, this is the rst literature review focusing on the treatment of pediatric LDH.
Keywords Child Adolescent Therapeutics
Treatment outcome Intervertebral disc displacement
Lumbar disc herniation
Introduction
It has long been noticed that lumbar disc herniation (LDH) affects not only adults but also children and adolescents (pediatric LDH). Unique physiological natures of children and adolescents endow pediatric LDH with some distinctive features. However, almost all attention was given to adult LDH with pediatric LDH remaining partially understood. Over the years, the number of studies in this regard was on a rise, which led to an ever increasing understanding of this entity. Yet to the present date, it has not been fully reviewed as to the treatments available for pediatric LDH...