Differences in the clinical examination parameters ( straight leg raise [ SLR ] , muscle strength , sensory defects , tendon reflexes ) , patient-reported symptoms ( leg and back pain using a visual analog scale [ VAS ] , Oswestry disability , quality-of-life [ RAND-36 ] ) , sick leaves , number of discectomies , and adverse effects between the two treatment groups over the 1-year follow-up were compared using Mann-Whitney U test or Student 's t test , repeated-measures analysis , or Cox proportional hazards model .
