A critical evaluation of discography in patients with lumbar intervertebral disc disease.

Study Design: The study is a prospective observational study of 48 continuous patients with symptomatic lumbar degenerative disk disease. Each patient underwent discography, MRI, and a biochemical analysis of disk lavage fluid.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to correlate concordant pain on discography with MRI grade and biochemical markers of inflammation in a clinical setting.

Cytokine assay of the epidural space lavage in patients with lumbar intervertebral disk herniation and radiculopathy.

Introduction: Lumbar disk herniation may result in a radiculopathic pattern of symptoms. Consideration for a primary biochemical inducement of pain over a mechanical mechanism is a contemporary topic of spinal research. However, the exact pathomechanism by which a degenerative intervertebral disk leads to neural inflammation and pain has not been determined.