SPECTRUM OF LUMBOSACRAL MRI FINDINGS IN PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL IN NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA

Abstract

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a common musculoskeletal condition in clinical practice and one of the most common causes of disability in the developed nations, as well as one of the most frequently reported chronic health problems affecting the adult population. Of all the imaging modalities, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been found to be very useful in evaluating the abnormalities in the lumbosacral spine due to its excellent soft tissue resolution.

Methodology: A hospital-based, cross-sectional, prospective study of one hundred and fifty (150) adults with low back pain was carried out using a 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner (Toshiba excelart vantage March 2015). Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), was utilized for data collection. Analysis of the collated data was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25.0 (SPSS Inc. IL USA).

Results: Findings on MRI included abnormalities in 141(94%) of participants while 9 (6.0%) participants had normal findings. Degenerative disease of the spine was the most common finding and was present in 126(84%) of the participants, and this was more common at the L4/L5 level.

Conclusions: Lumbar disc degeneration was the most common cause of low back pain. L4/L5 disc level affectation was more common.