Discography for Preoperative Evaluation of Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain and Its Effect on Clinical Results

Background context: Degeneration of intervertebral discs can sometimes cause chronic pain known as degenerative disc disease (DDD), and this condition is primarily treated conservatively. If this fails, surgery can be considered; these patients are often assessed through medical history, clinical findings, and radiology. In some patients uncertainty prevails, therefore additional examinations might be beneficial. One such examination is provocative discography, but its reliability is disputed. No studies have been performed on the impact of discography on clinical outcome after surgery.