Special Issue on Discogenic Lumbar Disease

Lumbar discogenic disease refers to the gradual deterioration of the discs that separate the large vertebrae in the lower back (lumbar spine), most often between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebral bodies or between the fifth and the sacrum.

This condition is an extremely common source of lower back pain, particularly in older patients. A degenerated disc isn’t necessarily symptomatic itself, but could be if disc material comes into contact with the disc’s outer wall, the spinal cord, or one of the nerve roots in the spinal column. When this occurs, a number of symptoms can follow, including local pain, numb, tingling or burning feeling, muscle weakness, traveling pain, and sciatica. Symptoms can affect the lower back, buttocks, thigh, anal/genital region (via the Perineal nerve), and may radiate into the foot and/or toe.

In this special issue, we are going to invite front-line researchers and authors to submit original research and review articles that explore Discogenic Lumbar Disease. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

l   Signs and symptoms, cause and mechanism of lumbar disc disease, including the molecular processes involved in disc degeneration and the physical  and   chemical changes reducing disc integrity

l  Pathology and diagnostic procedures for degenerative disc disease, measurement of intervertebral motions

l  Disc disease treatment, the application of interbody fusion as treatment for severely degenerated discs, and the application of ipsilateral and bilateral decompression with a tubular retractor system under microscopy, stem cell injection therapy for the intervertebral disc

l   Evaluation of the outcomes of patients with lumbar disc disease, assessment of treatment efficacy, Core Outcome Measures Index (COMI)

l    Complications, rehabilitation, prevention