Abstract
BACKGROUND Multi-segment herniation of lumbar intervertebral discs is a complex lumbar spine disease, and it is difficult to identify the responsible segment using only magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The present study screened 47 patients with multi-segment lumbar disc herniation (MSLDH) to evaluate coronal magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) of three-dimensional fast-field echo with water-selective excitation to identify the responsible segment of multi-segment lumbar disc herniation (MSLDH) and to assess the accuracy and utility of CMRI. MATERIAL AND METHODS This retrospective study included 44 patients with low back pain or lower-extremity symptoms from January 2019 to December 2021. The imaging (including CMRI) and clinical data of the patients were analyzed by 3 independent, blinded experts. The Kappa statistical method was used to characterize the reader-to-reader reliability to qualitatively evaluate the data. RESULTS CMRI showed high diagnostic performance, with 90.2% sensitivity, 94.9% positive predictive value (PPV), 80% negative predictive value (NPV), and 83.4% accuracy, and there were significant differences in hospital length of stay (P=0.013) and surgical bleeding (P=0.006) (P<0.01) between single-segment and multi-segment patients. CONCLUSIONS CMRI is highly accurate in revealing the shape, signal, and position of the intraspinal and extraspinal lumbosacral plexus, and reducing surgical segments can help improve postoperative outcomes for patients.