Vascular backache and consideration of its pathomechanisms: report of two cases

We experienced two cases whose low back pain was improved after vascular reconstructive surgery for arteriosclerosis obliterans in the abdominal cavity. Based on these observations, we propose the term "vascular backache" and we discuss possible pathomechanisms underlying this condition. One patient had a stenotic lesion in the lower abdominal aorta and was operated transluminally; the other patient had a diffuse stenotic lesion from the abdominal aorta to the femoral arteries and had an axillofemoral bypass operation. After surgery, they experienced a reduction of backache along with an improvement of the vascular intermittent claudication. It is suggested that one factor leading to low back pain in some cases might be various degrees of ischemia of the extensor muscles in the lumbar spine.