British journal of sports medicine
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Comparative Study
Use of the one-legged hyperextension test and magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of active spondylolysis.
Active spondylolysis is an acquired lesion in the pars interarticularis and is a common cause of low back pain in the young athlete. ⋯ These results suggest that there is a high rate of active spondylolysis in active athletes with low back pain. The one-legged hyperextension test is not useful in detecting active spondylolysis and should not be relied on to exclude the diagnosis. MRI is inferior to bone scintigraphy (with SPECT)/computed tomography. Bone scintigraphy (with SPECT) should remain the first-line investigation of active athletes with low back pain followed by limited computed tomography if bone scintigraphy is positive.