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ABSTRACT: Background
Diagnosing intervertebral instability is crucial for the treatment of degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS). Disabling back pain will reduce spinal mobility which leads to an underestimate of the incidence of intervertebral instability. We hypothesized that adequate analgesia could alter the flexion/extension exam performance, and thus increase the diagnostic accuracy of segmental instability.Materials and methods
One hundred patients with low-grade DLS were prospectively enrolled in the before-after cohort study. Standing lateral flexion/extension radiographs of lumbar spines were examined and analyzed before and after intramuscular injections of 30 mg ketorolac.Results
Pain score decreased significantly after analgesic injections (p < 0.001). Dynamic slip (DS), dynamic segmental angle (DA), dynamic lumbar lordosis, and slip percentage (SP) were significantly increased after pain reduction (all p < 0.001). According to the diagnostic criteria for segmental instability (DS > 4.5 mm, DA > 15°, or SP > 15%), there were 4%, 4%, and 0.7% of total motion segments fulfilling the criteria which markedly increased to 42%, 32%, and 16.7% after analgesia was administered. The incidence of instability also increased from 6% to 38% after analgesia.Conclusions
The diagnosis rate of intervertebral instability is commonly underestimated in the presence of low back pain. This short-term pain relief facilitates reliable functional imaging adding to the diagnosis of intervertebral instability.
SUBMITTER: Chou SH
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8432229 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Chou Shih-Hsiang SH Lin Sung-Yen SY Shen Po-Chih PC Tu Hung-Pin HP Huang Hsuan-Ti HT Shih Chia-Lung CL Lu Cheng-Chang CC
Journal of clinical medicine 20210902 17
<h4>Background</h4>Diagnosing intervertebral instability is crucial for the treatment of degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS). Disabling back pain will reduce spinal mobility which leads to an underestimate of the incidence of intervertebral instability. We hypothesized that adequate analgesia could alter the flexion/extension exam performance, and thus increase the diagnostic accuracy of segmental instability.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>One hundred patients with low-grade DLS were pros ...[more]