Study: Less lumbar disc compression, lumbar lordosis seen in children with idiopathic low back pain

Researchers in this study analyzed how the lumbar spine reacted to differently weighted backpacks in children with idiopathic low back pain and found the spine in these children may have an altered mechanism for load tolerance.

“In children with [idiopathic low back pain] ILBP, increasing backpack load selectively compresses the L5–S1 disc height,” Stephen J. Shymon, BA, and colleagues wrote in the study. “Compared with normal children, children with ILBP experience less lumbar [intervertebral disc] IVD compression, less lumbar lordosis, and more pain in response to backpack load.”

Shymon and colleagues analyzed the loads results from 15 patients with ILBP who were mean 13 ± 3 years old by measuring them in supine and standing position using a 0.6-T upright MRI scanner. The patients wore 0-kg, 4-kg and 8-kg backpacks and their lumbar lordosis, IVD height, lumbar coronal deformity and pain scores were recorded, according to the abstract.

Pain in children with ILBP increased as the backpack load increased. The researchers noted that children with ILBP may have an altered mechanism for load tolerance and suggested re-distributing the backpack load to the paraspinal musculature to relieve pain.

“If the backpack load is distributed to the paraspinal musculature in children with ILBP, focused physical therapy may alleviate the observed pain with loading,” the researchers wrote. — by Jeff Craven

Disclosure: The authors received grants from the Neuroscience and Spine Associates and funding from the National Institutes of Health and Clinical and Translational Science Awards.

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Source:

Shymon SJ. Spine. 2014;doi:10.1097/BRS.0000000000000114.