Spontaneous regression of lumbar disc herniation

H. Selim Karabekir; Ahmet Yildizhan; Canan Balci; Elmas K. Atar

Abstract

We present 3 cases of spontaneous regression of lumbar herniated disc. The disc regression correlated with clinical improvement documented by MRI studies. Although the phenomenon of spontaneous disappearance of decrease in size of herniated disc fragments is well known, the exact mechanism underlying this process remains unclear. We discuss 3 possible explanations for disc regression: retraction into the vertebral space, dehydration/shrinkage, and resorption due to inflammatory reaction.

Neurosciences is an Open Access journal and articles published are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC). Readers may copy, distribute, and display the work for non-commercial purposes with the proper citation of the original work.