Altered patterns of abdominal muscle activation in patients with chronic low back pain

This study investigated patterns of abdominal muscle recruitment during the abdominal drawing in manoeuvre in subjects with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and radiological diagnosis of spondylolysis or spondylolisthesis. Data were collected using surface electromyography from 12 physically active subjects with CLBP and 10 controls. The control subjects displayed an ability to preferentially activate internal oblique with minimal activation of upper rectus abdominis during the action of drawing in the abdominal wall. The group with CLBP were unable to achieve this. This finding may reflect the presence of neuromuscular dysfunction in this group. Further study is required to investigate if these findings are linked to the ability of patients with CLBP to provide dynamic stability of their lumbar spine.