Presented at the 2012 AAPM Annual Meeting « Back

Is the Treatment of Cervical Disc Herniation Easier than Lumbar One? Comparison Study of Cervical and Lumbar Disc Herniation in Nonsurgical Treatments Period

Chul Woo Kim, MD, artemith@chol.com¹, Doo Young Chung, Korean Medical Doctor¹, Jung Chul Choi, Korean Medical Doctor¹, Ki Ok KIM, Korean Medical Doctor¹, (1) Mokhuri Neck & Back Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

Introduction: A cervical herniated disc is not as common as a herniated lumbar disc because there is not much disc material located in the cervical spine. Also there is not much force applied along the cervical spine. So it can decrease the risk of a cervical herniated disc than a herniated lumbar disc. We also expect the same result on the treatment period between them. The purpose of this study was that we want to investigate that a cervical herniated disc heals faster than a herniated lumbar disc in the same conservative treatment. Methods: This retrospective study was done from 09/2010 to 05/2011. The subjects were 99 inpatients and 110 outpatients in Mokhuri Neck & Back Hospital. Patients were treated by combined and integrative therapies in Korean medicine such as Chuna (a Korean style systemic manual therapy), acupuncture, bee venom acupuncture and herbal medicine. Outcome measurements were VAS or NRS. We compared the period of reducing pain level to 30% of the initial pain level. Results: In hospitalization, a herniated cervical disc took 9.83±4.89 days, a herniated lumbar disc took 16.06±7.00days. (P-value<0.0001, t-test) In outpatients, a herniated cervical disc took 23.23±15.57 days, a herniated lumbar disc took 31.29±18.88days. (P-value = 0.0152, t-test) Conclusion: It was revealed from this research that the treatment period of a cervical herniated disc is shorter than a lumbar herniated disc and hospitalization is more effective than outpatient treatment.

Funding: None