• Julio César Delgado-Álvarez, Antonio César Tamayo-Valenzuela, María Luisa Pérez-Carranco, and José de Jesús Salvador Villafaña-Tello.
• Clínica del Dolor y Cuidados Paliativos, Hospital de Oncología, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. delgadodr@hotmail.com
• Rev Med Inst Mex Seguro Soc. 2011 Mar 1; 49 (2): 147-52.

BackgroundPercutaneous discectomy has shown to be useful for relief the radicular pain due to a disk hernia, which is a common condition in the general population. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of percutaneous discectomy in radicular pain caused by disk hernia.MethodsA descriptive study was done. The records of percutaneous discectomy patients from a two years period were analyzed including those who had a pain intensity scored by a Analog Visual Scale (VAS), those with daily taken analgesics, before and after the procedure were registered. Dose in milligrams (mg) of analgesic intake were converted to equivalent dosages for 24 hours oral morphine. Pain intensity and medication take before and after the procedure were compared.ResultsVAS average previous to the procedure was 6.29 and after it descended to 2.86. The mean of medication intake before discectomy was 30.32 mg and after the procedure was 12.75 mg.DiscussionWe found pain improvement in a high percentage of patients reflected by a decrease in VAS and the medication needed.

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