Introduction: Low back pain and one of its reasons, disk herniation, is one of the most prevalent musculosceletal complaints of military patiants resulting in loss of property and time.Discectomy is the most frequent surgery on these patients. The main purpose of this study was to compare the results of discectomy in military presonnel with civilians.
Materials and Method: This cross-sectional study involved 117 military (54 combat and 63 official staff) and 115 civilian patients underwent discectomy surgery between 1999-2002 in Baqiyatallah (a.s.) Hospital. Demographic data was collected through patients' medical files; satisfactionary level after surgery was measured using (Visual Analog Scale) VAS; and the ability to return to work and complaints after surgery were assessed during follow up through a mean time of 50.8 months. Data analysis was done through descriptive indicators and statisical tests like X2, Mann-Whitney and Fitcher using SPSS13 software.Results: Two studied groups were similar in case of age and gender. Disability to return to work showed a significant difference between military and nonmilitary patients (p=0.002) and between combat and official staff (P<0.001). The mean value of patiants' satisfaction in civilians was significantly more than military patients (P=0.02). But this difference was not observed in military subgroups. Complaints after surgery have not significant difference between military presonnel and civilians.Discussion: According to the findings of this study surgery had poor outcomes in military patients especially in combat forces regarding their heavy activities. So, first of all it should be tried to prevent harmful damages to lumbar spinae; and in presence of disc herniation clinical symptoms, it preferred to keep implementation of military forces by conservative treatments. If these ways had no outcomes or in absolute surgery indications discectomy is inevitable.