The Duration of Symptoms Influences Outcomes After Lumbar Microdiscectomies: A Michigan Spine Surgery Improvement Collaborative.

Patients with prolonged symptoms prior to surgical intervention experience smaller improvements in postoperative leg pain, PROMIS PF, and EQ-5D than those who undergo surgery earlier. Patients undergoing surgery within 3 months of symptom onset have the highest rates of return to work at 1 year after surgery.