• Bin Lv, Jishan Yuan, Hua Ding, Bowen Wan, Qinyi Jiang, Yongjun Luo, Tao Xu, Peng Ji, Yilei Zhao, Lei Wang, Yan Wang, Anquan Huang, and Xiang Yao.
• Department of Orthopedics, The Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province 212002, China.
• Biomed Res Int. 2019 Jan 1; 2019: 9369853.

PurposeThe endplate defects (EDs), Modic changes (MCs), disc degeneration (DD), facet orientation (FO), and facet tropism (FT) were demonstrated to be related to the low back pain (LBP). The aim of this study was to investigate possible correlations between them.Methods75 patients were reviewed to evaluate the degenerative change in vertebral bodies (EDs and MCs), intervertebral discs (DD), and facet joint degeneration (FO and FT). All patients were categorized into four groups based on the grade of EDs. Clinical outcomes were evaluated with the visual analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry disability index (ODI) before and after surgery.ResultsThere was no difference between the four groups in baseline characteristics except for gender and weight. FT is positively correlated with FO. The same rule exists between EDs, the size of MCs II, FO (left) and FO (right), and VAS and ODI. The grade of EDs is positively correlated with the grade of DD. L4-L5 can bear more load than other levels; thus, the grade of EDs is higher than that of other lumbar levels. The preoperative LBP was relieved in all groups in varying degrees. The change of pain and dysfunction is inversely proportional to the grade of EDs in the general trend.ConclusionThe relationship between weight, gender, and disc degeneration provided a mechanism by which increasing weight can predispose to DD. Different grades of EDs had different effects on patients with LBP. There was a significant correlation between EDs, MCs II, DD, FT, and FO.

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