Objective To investigate the effect of mouse nerve growth factor (mNGF) on treatment of patients with lumbar disc hemiation combined with foot drop.Methods The clinical data of 76 patients suffering from lumbar disc herniation combined with foot drop,admitted to our hospital from January 2008 and June 2011,were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into two groups according to the postoperative treatments; in particular,one group of 36 patients was treated with a combination of mNGF and methylcobalamin (Group C),whereas the other group of 40 patients was treated with methylcobalamin alone (Group A).The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores and the recovery of neurological function among these patients at 1,4 and 12 weeks,and 12 months after surgery were recorded and compared.Results The follow-up duration ranged from 12 to 54 months (mean 24.8 months).For both groups,patients'VAS scores at observation each time point were lower than their VAS scores prior to treatment (P＜0.05); moreover,the VAS scores of Group C were significantly lower than Group A at every time point (P＜0.05).Higher effective rates of sensory improvement were observed in Group C than those in in Group A and exhibited statistically significant differences at each time point (P＜0.05).The effective rate of muscular strength improvement of the two groups didn't differ significantly at 1 week after surgery (P＞0.05) but exhibited statistically significant differences at subsequent time points (P＜ 0.05).Conclusion Application of mNGF in combination with methylcobalamin promotes the recovery of neurological function in patients suffering from lumbar disc herniation with foot drop.