• Sumihisa Orita, Toshihiko Yamashita, Seiji Ohtori, Kazuo Yonenobu, Mamoru Kawakami, Toshihiko Taguchi, Shin-Ichi Kikuchi, Takahiro Ushida, Konno Shin-Ichi S, Masaya Nakamura, Keiji Fujino, Shuichi Matsuda, Kazunori Yone, and Kazuhisa Takahashi.
• *Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate school of Medicine, Chiba University †Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Sapporo Medical University, School of Medicine ‡Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Jikei Institute, Osaka §Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Spine Care Center, Wakayama Medical University Kihoku hospital ¶Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yamaguchi University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences ||Fukushima Medical University **Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Multidisciplinary Pain Center ††Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Keio University, Tokyo ‡‡Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Fujino Orthopaedic Clinic, Shizuoka §§Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyoto University ¶¶Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
• Spine. 2016 Aug 1; 41 (15): 1224-31.

Study DesignA cross-sectional study of 1804 consecutive patients.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of pathological pain and its distribution features in patients with chronic lumbar spinal disorders.Summary Of Background DataClinical spinal disorders can involve pathological neuropathic pain (NeP) as well as physiological nociceptive pain (NocP), as they have varied pathology, including spinal cord injury, stenosis, and compression. A study conducted by the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research (JSSR) has determined a prevalence of 29.4% for NeP in patients with lumbar spinal disorder. However, the data did not include information on pain location.MethodsPatients aged 20 to 79 years with chronic lower back pain (≥3 months, visual analog scale score ≥30) were recruited from 137 JSSR-related institutions. Patient data included an NeP screening questionnaire score and pain location (lower back, buttock, and legs). The association between the pain pathology and its location was analyzed statistically using the unpaired t test and Chi-square test followed by Fisher test. P < 0.05 was considered significant.ResultsLow back pain subjects showed 31.9% of NeP prevalence, and the pain distribution showed [NocP(%)/NeP(%)] low back pain only cases: 44/22, while low back pain with leg pain cases showed a prevalence of 56/78. This indicates that low back pain alone can significantly induce NocP rather than NeP (P < 0.01). Buttock pain was revealed to significantly induce both lower back pain and leg pain with NeP properties (P < 0.01). Leg pain was revealed to be predominantly neuropathic, especially when it included peripheral pain (P < 0.01).ConclusionLow back pain with no buttock pain induces NocP rather than NeP. Buttock pain is significantly associated with NeP prevalence whether or not leg pain exists. Leg pain can increase the prevalence of NeP, especially when it contains a peripheral element.Level Of Evidence3.

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