Lumbar disk compliance and degeneration.

Comparison between 242 intradiscal pressure/volume recordings and corresponding diskograms (performed at the same occasion) has shown a significant (p less than 0.01) correlation between disk compliance and the degree of diskographic degeneration. Intradiscal pressure/volume testing is a simple, reliable, and risk-free procedure that should precede every diskogram and be incorporated into the preoperative diagnostic routine of patients undergoing chemonucleolysis or percutaneous diskectomy.