Introduction: To evaluate clinical outcomes with PDD as compared with patients who
underwent to standard physiotherapy intervention.
Material and methods: One-hundred-seventy-seven randomly assigned patients with primari-
ly radicular pain associated with a single-level lumbar contained disc herniation were
enrolled. Participants received either PDD (89 patients) or conservative physiotherapy care
(88 patients).
Results: Patients in the PDD group had significantly greater reduction in leg pain scores and
significantly improved VAS ( p < 0.001), Oswestry Disability Index ( p < 0.05), and 36-Item
Short Form, than those in the physiotherapy group at 12 months. On subset analysis,
patients achieved even better outcomes after PPD who: were younger, had a shorter period
of radiculopathy, of male gender, and lower BMI. Patients with subacute pain reported better
outcomes than those with chronic pain in the PDD group.
Conclusions: Patient selection for PDD over physiotherapy favored younger patients who
presented with a shorter period of pain symptoms and who had a more favorable body
habitus
