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Pain-related exams may help diagnose recent osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures
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Researchers from Rome who evaluated elderly patients at an outpatient spine clinic found examining these patients’ pain-related behavior clinically could predict the presence of an osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture, according to results of this study.
“Pain-related behavior evaluation of patients with osteoporotic [vertebral compression fractures] VCF during their movements on the examining table may allow to suspect, or even diagnose, the presence of a fracture, particularly in the initial 4 [weeks] to 6 weeks after the occurrence,” Roberto Postacchini, MD, and colleagues wrote in the study abstract, “Even orthopedic surgeons not particularly familiar with spine care may be able to suspect the injury during physical examination.”
Postacchini and colleagues analyzed results from 56 patients with either lumbar or thoracic pain; 19 of these patients recently had a VCF and acted as a treatment group, while 37 patients who did not recently have a VCF acted as a control group, according to the abstract. The patients were assessed clinically by examiners and their pain-related behavior was recorded if they displayed symptoms such as sighing, grimacing, clenching or blocking eyelids, extreme difficulty to turn in the prone position, needing help to take positions, or gaping and tightening of the lips, being scored on a scale of 0 to 6 points for each parameter.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.
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