[Long-term results of interbody anterior arthrodesis in the treatment of common low back pain. Importance of preoperative discography findings].

The results of 50 anterior interbody arthrodeses performed for incapacitating chronic low back pain with disc degeneration were assessed with a mean follow-up of seven years and a rate of examination of 74.5 per cent. Systematic pre-operative discography was made of the levels above and below the fused region. The overall functional results were assessed using a new scale of evaluation which showed that only half of the patients were definitely improved at the latest follow-up examination. The outcome in relation to pain radiating to the lower limbs seemed to be the same as in low back pain and there was therefore no need for any posterior procedure. The factors that improved the success rate were an effective fusion, which was obtained in 80 per cent of cases at the first attempt and a healthy disc at the new effective lumbosacral level. The factors that diminished the success rate were mainly those relating to social and working activity, mainly the effects of accidents at work. Even though the results were less than perfect, interbody fusion, which the authors continue to practise, cannot be excluded from the therapeutic methods used to manage low back pain.