Physiotherapy interventions versus surgical interventions for patients with prolapsed lumbar intervertebral disc (PLID): A critical review

The most common predisposing factor for low back pain is a prolapsed lumber intervertebral disc. It is the most prevalent symptom in the modern population, albeit it was formerly the ancient curse of society, and it affects 80% of the population at some time in their lives. The goal of this study was to assess the efficacy of physiotherapy versus surgery for patients with prolapsed intervertebral disc. A thorough search of Medline, Embase, CINAHL, CENTRAL, and PEDro was done. Randomized control trial and prospective cohort study relevant to physiotherapy versus surgery, physiotherapy management alone, surgery among the lumbar disc herniation patients were included. Studies that were written in English and came out between 2006 and 2018 were enlisted using inclusion criteria. For screening, identified similar types of articles, avoid duplicate articles, and finally compare and contrast 5 articles. In the short-term, according to the majority of the articles, surgery was more beneficial than conservative treatment. However, there was no discernible difference between physiotherapy and surgery after a long period of observation, and the re-operation rate after surgery was 3%–20% within the first 1–2 years. Physiotherapy intervention had no adverse effects, whereas surgery had some adverse effects. In all circumstances, physiotherapy intervention is more effective than surgery. Physiotherapy interventions should be prescribed in a structured way.