There is increasing emphasis on the use of health-related quality of life(QOL)outcome measures to determine the efficacy of treatment, particularly for diseases that are not life threatening but affect the patient's QOL. In the treatment of lumbar disc herniation, the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS), are validated and common scales that are used to measure treatment outcomes.