Articles: low-back-pain.
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Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is the main cause of low back pain and/or radiculopathy. Currently, epidural intervention is a widely used and effective conservative treatment method for managing low back and radicular pain caused by LDH. ⋯ In short-term and intermediate-term follow-up, the PIL approach has the highest probability for pain relief and functional improvement.
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Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is the leading cause of years lived with disability. Recently, it has been reported that CLBP is associated with alterations in the central nervous system. The present study aimed to investigate the association between CLBP and regional brain atrophy in an older Japanese population. ⋯ In addition, the left superior frontal gyrus was identified as a significant cluster by the Query, Design, Estimate, Contrast interface. There were no significant differences in the brain volumes of pain-related regions between the NCP and the OCP groups. The present study suggests that CLBP is associated with lower brain volumes of pain-related regions in a general older population of Japanese.
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Observational Study
The effect of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on oswestry disability index scores: a comparative cross-sectional study.
Lockdown measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic restricted social interactions and travel. This retrospective, observational study was conducted to evaluate the effect of lockdown restrictions on Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores in patients with spinal conditions. ⋯ Level 3.
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Fat infiltration (FI) of the paraspinal muscles (PSMs) measured using MRI is an aspect of muscle quality and is considered to be worse in chronic low back pain (cLBP) patients. However, there is not a clear association between paraspinal muscle FI and cLBP, leaving the clinical importance of paraspinal muscle composition unestablished. The spatial distribution of FI in the PSMs may inform mechanistic understanding of non-specific cLBP as it relates to degenerative intervertebral disc (IVD) pathology. We hypothesized that paraspinal muscle fat-mapping would reveal distinct FI distribution patterns in relation to cLBP symptoms and proximity to symptomatic IVD degeneration. ⋯ Our study identified spatial distribution patterns of FI in the PSMs as a potential diagnostic biomarker that may also provide granular mechanistic insights into spine biomechanics related to cLBP, as well as advancing the use of prior summary measures limited to overall muscle FI.
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Low back pain (LBP) is a common health problem in the global population. This study aims to assess whether smoking initiation, alcohol consumption, and coffee consumption are causally with an increased risk of LBP. ⋯ Smoking is casually associated with an increased risk of LBP. Smoking control should be recommended in LBP patients to avoid worsening the disease. The safety of LBP with moderate alcohol and coffee consumption merits more study.