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Published on: February 14, 2021
[Natural history and prognosis of discogenic low back pain]
Bao-gan Peng1, Xiao-Dong Pang, Duan-Ming Li
1Department of Spine Surgery, General Hospital of Armed Police Force, Beijing 100039, China. pengbaogan@163.com
Objective:
To understand the natural history and prognosis of patients with discogenic low back pain so as to offer a better guide on its clinical treatment.
Methods:
From December 2003 to November 2004, we consecutively hospitalized 72 patients with discogenic low back pain diagnosed by lumbar discography. These patients were randomized into two groups. One group (n = 36) received an intradiscal methylene blue (MB) injection immediately after discography while another group (n = 36) received a placebo. Both Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were used to assess the back pain symptoms and the lumbar function respectively during a 4-year follow-up period.
Results:
In total, 32 of 36 patients who received a placebo injection underwent a 4-year follow-up. Of these patients, 4 cases (12.5%) had their low back pain symptoms alleviated, 1 case (3.1%) slightly improved, 3 cases (9.4%) aggravated and 22 cases (68.8%) had no change in symptoms. According to VAS and ODI scores taken at different time points, these two scores gradually decreased over time; however, no statistical significances were found (VAS: F = 3.049, P > 0.05; ODI: F = 2. 272, P > 0.05).
Conclusion:
The disease course of discogenic low back pain is chronic and persistent so that its symptoms show no improvement over time.
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