Is preoperative occupation related to long-term pain in patients operated for lumbar disc herniation?

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a common cause of back and sciatic pain. When clinical treatment fails, surgery may be indicated in selected patients. Although surgery is effective in most cases, some of these patients may have a poor outcome. Different factors may influence these results and poor adaptation at work is one well-known cause of treatment failure. This study examines 350 patients on long-term follow-up after surgery for first-time LDH. The relationship was analyzed between occupation before surgery and outcome (maintenance of lumbar and leg pain, satisfaction with the surgical treatment and return to work). The preoperative occupation (employed in public or private services, autonomous, unemployed, housewife, retired or student) and the exertion at work were analyzed as prognostic factors for different clinical outcomes. Although unemployed people had higher numerical analog scale for lumbar pain and retired patients had a higher leg pain, this difference was not statistically significant. Retired people were significantly less satisfied with the surgical result. Higher exertion at work showed a statistically insignificant higher level of pain and lower degree of satisfaction. The authors conclude that preoperative occupation was not a statistically significant factor in this series of patients.