BACKGROUND: Lumbar nucleotomy is a common surgical intervention to relieve radicular irritation or compression caused by herniated disc material. Some authors reported success in relieving pain and improving function due to strengthening exercises. On the other side the sensory motor co-ordination is gaining importance in concepts of lumbar stabilisation. There is no a controlled study yet comparing both concepts in rehabilitation of patients after lumbar nucleotomy. The aim of the study was to compare the effects of rehabilitation based on strengthening and a sensory motor training on patients health status and quality-of-life. METHODS: 98 of 100 consecutive patient aged on average 49.2 (SD: 13.5) y admitted to an inpatient multidisciplinary rehabilitation program after a first time monosegmental lumbar nucleotomy were assigned randomly into two therapy regimes, one of them based on strengthening exercises (group I) the other one on sensory motor training (group II). All patients completed SF-36, EQ-5D and an Hannover Functional Scale (FFbH) as self-administered questionnaires on admission (T1) and at discharge from the rehabilitation facility (T2). 82 patients (85.7%) completed the same set of instruments 6 months after discharge. Longitudinal effects as well group differences at all measurement occasions were computed using non-parametric statistics. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in terms of all measures from T1 to T2. There was further, in some dimensions significant improvement till T3 in both groups. There were no significant differences between groups at T1 and T2. At T3 there was a borderline significance in terms of quality-of-life (TTO-Index: p = 0.054, VAS: p = 0.056) and sound significance in specific health state, all in favour of the sensory motor training group. CONCLUSIONS: Both therapeutic strategies show positive effects in improving generic and specific health status as well as quality-of-life in patients undergoing rehabilitation after lumbar nucleotomy. The effects on specific health seems to be more lasting in the group receiving sensory motor training. The results are in concordance with international literature showing no evidence, that the effectiveness of any form of therapy could be superior to an other. Both regimes are effective and should to be combined to a tailored rehabilitation program. The generalisability of the results is limited due to a small study sample. Further research is needed to identify patients subgroups which are most benefiting from the multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation after lumbar surgery.

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