Is surgery for recurrent lumbar disc herniation worthwhile or futile? A single center observational study with patient reported outcomes

•Sciatica due to lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is the most common indication for spine surgery.•There are currently limited and conflicting data on what patients can expect when undergoing repeated surgeries for recurrent LDH.•The aim of this observational study was to investigate patient reported outcomes and complications following microdiscectomy for recurrent LDH.•At one year we found a significant improvement in ODI-score one year after surgery. We also found significant improvements in EQ-5D-scores, leg pain NRS and back pain NRS.•The major strengths of this study are a large number of patients, high external validity, prospective data collection, and widely applied outcome measures.