Table 1.

Pre-operative and postoperative evaluation of all patients

	Age, sex	Pre-operative evaluation		Imaging findings	Operation	Early postoperative evaluation		Late postoperative evaluation
		Symptoms	Neurologic exam			Symptoms	Neurologic exam	Symptoms	Neurologic exam
1	45, F	LBP for 1 year and right leg pain for 3 weeks	Right Lasegue (+) at 60–70° Left contralasegue (+) at 80–90°, Paresthesia–hypoesthesia of right foot. Scoliosis (tilt toward right side), marked muscle spasm on the left side.	CT: L5-S1 posterior central and left paracentral disk herniation EMG: Right S1 radicular involvement	Left L5 partial laminectomy; diskectomy from left	No symptoms	Normal	After 3 years
								No symptoms at routine life. Mild right leg pain after intense physical activity.	Right L5 paresthesia
2	35, F	LBP for 7 years and left leg pain for 2 years	Left Lasegue (+) at 70°	CT: L4–5 posterior central and right paracentral disk herniation	Right L4 lower partial laminectomy; diskectomy from right	No symptoms	Normal	After 3 years
								No symptoms	Normal
3	40, F	LBP for 11 months and bilateral leg pain. Right > Left for 10 months	Normal	MRI: L4–5 posterior central and left paracentral disk herniation	Left L4 partial laminectomy; diskectomy from left	No symptoms	Normal	After 2.5 years
								No symptoms	Normal
4	42, M	Left leg pain for the last 5 years, which subsided after rehabilitation. Sudden onset of intolerable—intractable right leg pain—in spite of the narcotic medication—1 week ago	Right Lasegue (+) at 20°, Left Lasegue (+) at 40°, Contralasegue (+) bilaterally, unable to walk because of the pain	MRI: L4–5 posterior central and left paracentral disk herniation	Left L4 partial laminectomy; diskectomy from left	Pain subsided, walks normally	Normal	After 2 years
								No symptoms	Normal
5	34, M	LBP and right leg pain 6 years prior, which subsided in a few months. Sudden onset of LBP and right leg pain 4 weeks ago after exercise	Absent right Achille reflex Lasegue bilateral (+) at 60° Hypoethesia in Right L5 dermatomal distribution	MRI: L4–5 posterior central and left paracentral disk herniation	Left L4 and L5 partial laminectomy; diskectomy from left	No symptoms	Absent Achille reflex	After 1 year
								No symptoms	Absent Achille reflex

LBP, low back pain; EMG, electromyography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; CT, computed tomography