Clinical Сharacteristics of Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Retrospective Comparative Study of 58 Females

INTRODUCTION. Low back pain (LBP) is a common discomfort in young women during pregnancy and after childbirth. These female patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) have unique clinical manifestations, but few studies have been reported. AIM. To investigate the clinical characteristics of female patients with LDH after childbirth and to provide basis for rehabilitation andtreatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS. We collected the clinical data of 58 female patients with LDH, analyzed the clinical characteristics. We usedCT scan to determine the location and type of LDH, observed the dural sac of lumbar intervertebral disc, serum 25 hydroxyvitaminD (25[OH] D) levels were measured and compared with healthy women and pregnant women. RESULTS. Our results showed that according to the age distribution of patients with low back pain was the most common among 30-34years old, accounting for 43.1% of all patients. Patients with LDH accounted for the highest proportion of patients with LBP, up to 55.2%.L4-L5 segment was the most common part of LDH, accounting for 46.9%, followed by L5-S1 segment, accounting for 31.3%. Protrusionwas the most common type of LDH, accounting for 84.4%. Among 34 patients with LDH, 15 patients (46.9%) had dural sac compression.The serum 25(OH) D level of patients with LDH was 11.36±5.16 ng/ml, lower than that of healthy women (first control group, 15.22±3.42ng/ml, p=0.022), and pregnant women (second control group, 18.95±6.94 ng/ml, p<0.011). CONCLUSION. LDH is one of the main causes of LBP in female patients. Female patients with LDH have their specific features in terms ofage distribution, location and type of intervertebral disc herniation, especially the serum 25(OH)D level of female patients is significantlylow. To clarify the clinical characteristics of female patients with LDH is very important for the rehabilitation treatment.