(July 7, 2009 - Insidermedicine) A minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat sciatica is no better than conventional surgery, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Here is some information about sciatica:

•    It refers to pain, tingling, or numbness that radiates along the sciatic nerve, which runs from the back down to the buttock or leg

•    Sciatica is generally a symptom of another condition, usually a herniated disk in the back, which is pressing on the nerve

•    While sciatica often goes away on its own, persistent cases may require surgery

Researchers from the Medical Center Haaglanden in the Netherlands randomly assigned over 300 adults suffering from sciatica for at least eight weeks due to a herniation in a lumbar disk to microdiskectomy, or a minimally invasive version of the surgery called tubular diskectomy.

Immediately after surgery, both groups had similar recovery rates and reported similar levels of pain. One year later, 69% of patients assigned the minimally invasive surgery reported a good recovery, compared with 79% assigned to conventional surgery.

Today's research fails to support the notion that minimally invasive surgery for sciatica offers better recovery and outcomes than conventional surgery.

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.