Recurrent Lumbar Disk Herniation and Revision Surgery Rates After Single-Level Lumbar Microdiscectomy in the Military Population.

Background: Lumbar microdiscectomy remains the most commonly performed surgical procedure for symptomatic lumbar disk herniation (LDH). Despite advances in surgical techniques, recurrent LDH (rLDH) ranges from 5% to 24%, representing the most common cause of surgical failure and revision surgery. Optimal treatment of reherniation remains controversial. In addition, no previously reported large database studies capture the rLDH rate in patients who did not undergo revision surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine the recurrence and revision surgery rate, time to revision surgery, and type of revision procedures performed after single-level diskectomy for LDH.

Methods: Using the Military Health System Data Repository, we retrospectively identified patients who underwent single-level microdiscectomy between October 2012 and December 2016. Electronic health records were reviewed to determine demographic data, rLDH rate, revision surgery rate, and type of revision surgery. Rates of subsequent procedures involving instrumented fusion and complications were recorded.

Results: Three thousand three hundred eighty-eight single-level microdiscectomies were included in the study. The same-level rLDH rate was 22.8%. A total of 396 revision surgeries (11.7%) were performed, with 274 revision microdiscectomies (69.2%) and 122 fusions (30.8%). Thirty-eight patients required additional surgical treatment. Overall, 138 patients (4.1%) progressed to lumbar arthrodesis after single-level microdiscectomy. Of those requiring more than one revision, 16 (42.1%) required an arthrodesis. All-cause complication during the index microdiscectomy was associated with greater reherniation risk (odds ratio 2.1, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: This retrospective study demonstrates a same-level recurrence rate of 22.8% with an 11.7% revision surgery rate. Within this group, 9.6% would require two or more revision surgeries and 42.1% of these revision microdiscectomy patients would ultimately undergo a lumbar arthrodesis at the same level as the initial disk herniation. Our findings characterize the lumbar disk reherniation population in the military health system, with major implications for the prognosis and treatment strategy of these commonly treated injuries.