Lumbar Disc Space Height in Young Disc Herniation and Degeneration Patients

Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine

Status: Completed

Conditions: Intervertebral Disc Degeneration; Low Back Pain; Intervertebral Disc Displacement

Treatments: Radiation: x-ray, MRI

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02351206

JS-CT-2014-05

Details and patient eligibility

About

As low back pain (LBP) imposes a heavy socioeconomic burden, early detection of pathologic intervertebral disc change in young adults holds high clinical relevance as a common structural cause of LBP. The investigators therefore assessed the feasibility of using X-ray disc space height measurements as a predictive evaluation method of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and degeneration in LBP patients in their early 20s.

Enrollment: 389 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 20 to 25 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age 20-25 years
• L-spine X-ray and L-spine MRIs taken within a week of the other test
• Native Korean ethnicity

Exclusion criteria

• Scoliosis with a Cobb's angle of ≥20°
• Significant vertebral deformity of any etiology (e.g. spondylolisthesis, fracture, spondylitis, neoplasm)
• Previous spinal surgery

Trial design

389 participants in 2 patient groups

The experimental group

Description:

Patients with intervertebral disc protrusion, extrusion, or migration at L4/5 randomly selected from a population pool of 665 patients with L-spine X-ray and L-spine MRIs taken within a week of the other test.

Treatment:

Radiation: x-ray, MRI

The control group

Description:

Patients with normal or disc bulging readings at L4/5 randomly selected from a population pool of 665 patients with L-spine X-ray and L-spine MRIs taken within a week of the other test.

Treatment:

Radiation: x-ray, MRI