"Fantasy Points" associated with Professional Athlete Performance after Lumbar Discectomy or Microdiscectomy.

Based on these results, the average performance of most elite athletes are likely to decrease after undergoing a lumbar discectomy. Although it appears that performance peaks in the initial years after the operation for some players, there was an overall long-term decline in this sample of elite athletes. Study limitations included small sample size, lack of controlling for possible confounding variables (e.g., age, etc.) and use of variable reporting sources. Additional studies with larger sample sizes and age-matched controls are needed to examine the effects of lumbar discectomy more comprehensively in elite athletes.