Gas-containing lumbar disc herniation. A case report and review of the literature.

The finding of gas into the intervertebral disc space ("vacuum phenomenon") is relatively common, whereas gas-containing cervical or lumbar disc herniations are rarely observed. A case of a patient with bilateral leg pain, provoked by a computed tomography scan and surgically documented L4-L5 gas-containing disc herniation is reported and the cases previously described in detail are reviewed, to define the pathophysiologic and diagnostic aspects of this rare phenomenon associated with a herniated disc fragment.