Su alcuni casi di ernia discale lombare in pazienti di eta adolescenziale

The authors report 21 cases of lumbar herniated disk in adolescents (aged 16-17 years old) which represent 2% of surgically treated discoradicular pathologies. After a prolonged period of physiotherapy in view of their young age, all patients underwent percutaneous nucleotomy and the cases of failure underwent surgery using microdiscectomy. The results were assessed in the medium and long term and the association with vertebral dysmorphism was analysed together with genetic predisposition and disk issue morphology. The authors affirm that a genetic predisposition and the immaturity of disk tissue represent the factors underlying lumbar herniated disk pathology in adolescents.