Incidence and Severity of Back Pain in Adult Idiopathic Scoliosis

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Incidence of back pain in a referred and followed group of 197 adults with idiopathic scoliosis and in a comparable control group of 180 adults without known spinal defomrity was the same. Severity of pain, however, was greater in scoliotic patients. The clinical course of back pain in adults without spinal deformity and in scoliotics was different: 64% improvement in adults without scoliosis vs. 83% persistence and progression in adults with scoliosis. Fifty-one percent of the adult scoliotics (101 patients) had significant pain. Pain increased with age and degree of scoliotic curvature (P < 0.0005). Patients with major lumbar curves had more pain. Major complaint was frequently below major deformity. Compensatory lumbosacral fractional curves were most painful and disabling. Pain comes mainly from concavity of curves and includes discogenic, facet joint and radicular origins. Surgery significantly reduced pain (P < 0.0001); conservative therapy did not. Of surgical patients, 83% had sufficient pain relief to make surgery worthwhile at 5 yr average follow-up.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: