Efficacy of Adcon-L gel or Healon-GV in epidural fibrosis after lumbar microdiscectomy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of anti-adhesion barrier agents following lumbar microdiscectomy.

METHODS: Healon GV or Adcon-L was applied to a laminectomy defect overlying the duramater in 60 patients assigned to 3 randomized groups: Group I - Adcon-L (n=21), Group II - Healon GV (n=21), and Group III - control group, no adhesion barrier used (n=18). We conducted this study between 2004 and 2006 at Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey.

RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the 3 groups either in the outcome measurements according to visual analogue score and the Oswestry Disability Index or in the radiological evaluation of epidural fibrosis by application of those anti-adhesion barrier agents. When comparing group III with groups I and II, we could not find a statistically significant difference in the clinical results and in the outcome measures (p>0.01).

CONCLUSION: The epidural application of popular anti-adhesion barriers, after lumbar microdiscectomy was not found to be effective regarding outcome measures in human spinal surgery.