A prospective study was done to determine the effect of obesity on the surgical results in patients with intractable sciatica. One hundred ten patients entered the study over an 8-month period. Five patients (1 obese) were excluded. Seventeen patients were included in the obese group. The two populations did not differ in age, sex, occupation, level of disc herniation, involvement of compensation, length of hospitalization, duration of disability, or incidence of surgical complications. At the 6-month follow-up assessment, 14 obese patients vs. 80 nonobese patients rated their surgical results good or excellent. Patients with postoperative weight loss were equally distributed between the groups. The data demonstrate that obesity should not be considered a prognostic factor when patients are eligible for surgical therapy.