• Roop Singh, Pradeep Kumar, Jitendra Wadhwani, Rohtas Kumar Yadav, Svareen Kaur, and Harshil Deep Singh.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Paraplegia and Rehabilitation, 52/9-J, Medical Enclave, PGIMS, Rohtak, Haryana, 124001, India. drroopsingh@rediffmail.com.
• Eur Spine J. 2023 Apr 1; 32 (4): 111511221115-1122.

ObjectivesThe present study aimed to estimate the trunk muscles moment-arms in low back pain (LBP) patients and compare this data to those of healthy individuals. This research further explored whether the difference of the moment-arms between these two is a contributing factor to LBP.MethodologyFifty patients with CLBP (group A) and 25 healthy controls (group B) were enrolled. All participants were subjected to magnetic resonance imaging of lumbar spine. Muscle moment-arms were estimated on a T2W axial section parallel to the disc.ResultsThere was statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in the sagittal plane moment-arms at L1-L2 for right erector spinae (ES), bilateral psoas and rectus abdominis (RA), right quadratus lumborum (QL), and left obliques; bilateral ES, QL, RA, and right psoas at L2-L3; bilateral QL, RA, and obliques at L3-L4; bilateral RA and obliques at L4-L5; and bilateral psoas, RA, and obliques at L5-S1. There was no statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in the coronal plane moment-arms except for left ES and QL at L1-L2; left QL and right RA at L3-L4; right RA and obliques at L4-L5; and bilateral ES and right RA at L5-S1.ConclusionsThere was a significant difference in muscle moment-arms of the lumbar spine's prime stabilizer (psoas) and primary locomotors (rectus abdominis and obliques) between LBP patients and healthy individuals. This difference in the moment-arms leads to altered compressive forces at intervertebral discs and may be one of the risk factors for LBP.© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

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