Spine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Recurrent low back pain and early disc degeneration in the young.
A prospective 9-year follow-up study involving randomized matched subgroups of 15-year-old schoolchildren with or without low back pain at baseline. ⋯ The authors' earlier findings already favored the hypothesis of a causal relation between the early evolution of a degenerative process of lower lumbar discs and recurrent low back pain in the near future. The current results further strengthen this hypothesis, indicating that individuals with disc degeneration soon after the phase of rapid physical growth not only have an increased risk of recurrent low back pain at this age, but also a long-term risk of recurrent pain up to early adulthood.