Spontaneous Regression Of Lumbar Disc Herniation: Four Cases Report And Review Of The Literature
Zheng, Y., Zhu, C., Huang, J. F., Manoharasetty, A., & Zhang, H. (2024). Spontaneous regression of lumbar disc herniation: four cases report and review of the literature. Nagoya journal of medical science, 86(3), 370–382. https://doi.org/10.18999/nagjms.86.3.370
View Original Source →Abstract
Spontaneous regression of lumbar disc herniation refers to shrinkage or disappearance of herniated nucleus pulposus without invasive surgical treatments. This phenomenon has been reported and is supported by improved clinical symptoms and radiographic after conservative treatment, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This article reports 4 cases of disc reabsorption and reviews the distribution of several clinical and radiographic factors of disc herniation reabsorption of total 46 patients, including the four from our study, gathered from 28 recent publications. Some of these factors are present with anomalous distributions. But some factors have similar deviations in patients with lumbar disc herniation. Therefore, more research is needed to explore the correlation between those factors and disc reabsorption.
Case Details
Disease Location
L4-l5 interverterbral disc
Personal Characteristics
68-year-old male
Clinical Characteristics
Sudden lower back pain and left leg radiation pain after lifting heavy objects for 2 days. Left straight-leg-raising test was positive, MRI revealed a large extruded disc fragment at the l4-l5 causing l5 left nerve root compression. He was treated with bed rest, acupuncture, physical and medical therapy.
Remission Characteristics
After 4-month, the symptoms disappeared completely, and MRI disclosed almost complete disappearance of the l4-l5 disc fragment
Treatment & Mechanisms
Non-Clinical Treatment
Bed rest, acupuncture