The herniated lumbar intervertebral disc in children and adolescents. Long-term follow-up of 101 cases treated by surgery.

The authors review 101 cases of herniated lumbar intervertebral disc in children and adolescents treated by surgery. The most significant etiologic and pathogenetic factors in this series were early onset of disc degeneration, congenital lumbosacral malformations, and repeated trauma. The main clinical symptom was pain, usually sciatica, while neurological symptoms were less common than they are in adults. In all patients diagnosed correctly with the aid of appropriate imaging studies (myelography, CT scan, MRI), discectomy by means of conservative hemilaminectomy achieved satisfactory results, except in two cases of concomitant spinal instability due to spondylolysis and in one case of recurrence.