Lumbar Radiculopathy due to Lumbar Disc Herniation at the University Hospital of Brazzaville

Objective: To contribute to improving the care of patients with a herniated disc.Patients and Method: This is a cross-sectional study, descriptive and analytical conducted from January 2002 to January 2012, a period of 10 years.The diagnosis of herniated disc was suspected due to common Lumbar Radiculopathy, lumbar spinal syndrome and L5, S1 or L4 radicular syndrome.It was confirmed on saccoradiculography or CT scan.Results: 91 patients were included including 55 women (60%) and 36 men (40%), sex ratio : 0.65.The average age was 55 years with extremes of 28 and 80 years.Lumbaradiculalgia was the main clinical manifestation.L5 radiculalgia was found in 57%, S1 in 32% and L4 in 11%, including 55% of right attacks, 28.5% bilateral and 16.5% left.The average BMI was 25.4 +/-5.6 kg/m 2 .Standard radiography was performed in all patients, saccoradiculography in 83.5% and lumbar CT scan in 30.7%.There is 83.5% u of root compression associated with compression of the dural sac.The L4-L5 herniated disc was found in 61.5%, L5-S1 in 22% and L3-L4 in 16.5% of cases.The treatment Medical was established first gr e intention.All patients were treated with analgesics, anti-inflammatory non-steroidal (95%), relaxants muscle (21%).The infiltrations concerned 98%, functional rehabilitation 82% and conventional surgical treatment 46% of cases.The surgery performed was discectomy with laminectomy.The outcome under medical treatment was favourable in 53.85% of cases.Of the 42 operated patients, 57 1% had painful sequelae, 28.6% had no sequelae, 14.3 paraplegia. Conclusion:The herniated disc remains a public health problem.It is advisable to know this nosologically entity in order to better take charge of it.