Driving reaction time before and after surgery for lumbar disc herniation in patients with radiculopathy

Purpose Although patients scheduled to undergo lumbar disc surgery often ask when they are allowed to drive a motor vehicle again, there are no published recommendations on this subject. Methods We conducted a prospective study in 46 consecutive patients (mean age 48.9 years) to determine driving re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European spine journal 2012-11, Vol.21 (11), p.2259-2264
Main Authors: Thaler, Martin, Lechner, Ricarda, Foedinger, Bernhard, Haid, Christian, Kavakebi, Pujan, Galiano, Klaus, Obwegeser, Alois
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age
Automobile Driving
Data processing
Diskectomy
Driving ability
Hospitals
Humans
Intervertebral Disc Displacement - complications
Intervertebral Disc Displacement - surgery
Intervertebral discs
Leg
Lumbar Vertebrae
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Motor vehicles
Neurosurgery
Original
Original Article
Pain
Radiculopathy - etiology
Radiculopathy - surgery
Reaction Time
Reaction time task
Spine (lumbar)
Surgery
Surgical Orthopedics
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Summary:Purpose Although patients scheduled to undergo lumbar disc surgery often ask when they are allowed to drive a motor vehicle again, there are no published recommendations on this subject. Methods We conducted a prospective study in 46 consecutive patients (mean age 48.9 years) to determine driving reaction time (DRT) before and after surgery in patients with lumbar disc herniation. Of the patients 23 had left-side radiculopathy and 23 right-side radiculopathy. Driving reaction time as well as back and leg pain were evaluated preoperatively, on the day of discharge from hospital and at the 5-week follow-up examination (FU). 31 healthy subjects were tested as controls. Results Significant improvement in DRT was seen for both patient samples ( p  
ISSN:0940-6719
1432-0932
DOI:10.1007/s00586-012-2378-9