"Visualization" of pain using cerebral F-FDG PET/CT following surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation.

Purpose: We hypothesized that unilateral leg pain following surgical treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is associated with an increase in the glucose metabolism of the contralateral thalamus.

Methods: Patients scheduled for surgery due to LDH underwent F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography less than two weeks prior to surgery. Their thalamic FDG uptake was measured and expressed as the mean and partial volume corrected mean standardized uptake values (SUVmean and cSUVmean).