Sacroiliac joint pain increases repositioning error during active straight leg-raising

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Orthopedics
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Sacroiliac joint pain (SIJP) is a common cause of low back pain.
• Assessing joint position sense and motor control is crucial for understanding SIJP.
• Repositioning error (RE) quantifies the accuracy of joint position reproduction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the repositioning error (RE) in patients with unilateral sacroiliac joint pain (SIJP) against patients with low back pain (LBP) and healthy controls (HC).
• To investigate differences in RE between the symptomatic and asymptomatic sides in individuals with SIJP.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-six participants (SIJP, LBP, HC groups) underwent an active straight leg-raising repositioning test (ASLR-Rt).
• Participants performed ASLR three times per side, aiming for a set base angle.
• Repositioning error was calculated as constant error (CE) and absolute error (AE).

Main Results:

• Patients with SIJP demonstrated significantly higher CE and AE compared to LBP and HC groups.
• The symptomatic side in the SIJP group showed significantly higher CE than the asymptomatic side.
• These findings suggest impaired proprioception and motor control in SIJP.

Conclusions:

• Sacroiliac joint pain is associated with increased repositioning error during ASLR.
• This heightened error may stem from compromised proprioception and reduced motor control in SIJP patients.
• Further research into proprioceptive and motor control deficits in SIJP is warranted.