In recent years, the number of scientific studies investigating the prevalence of low back pain among schoolchildren has been significantly increased. Degenerative disease of the discs is often accompanied by a low back pain with irradiation into the legs in representatives of different age groups, in particular, in older children. The main factors of its development are genetic predisposition, trauma, obesity, lack of exercise. Most of the components of the vertebral motor segment have the nerve endings and reflex influences, accompanied by inflammation, microcirculatory disorders, and their combination contributes to an appearance of back pain. Diagnosis of degenerative disc disease includes the study of the patient's medical history, analysis of clinical symptoms, use of functional tests and various types of imaging to clarify the degree of macrostructural changes in disks, among which the main place is taken by the magnetic resonance imaging. The development of degenerative changes in intervertebral discs as early as childhood, which requires a further study using non−invasive, accessible and informative methods, especially ultrasound ones. The results of ultrasonography of lumbar intervertebral discs were analyzed in 36 adolescents aged 16−18 years, diagnosed for the protrusion when the MRI was applied. Paramedian protrusion was found to be significantly more frequent than posterolateral, median, and circular ones. Due to its non−invasiveness, low price and information value, the ultrasound can be the most popular method not only as a screening one but also for the expert evaluation of lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion in schoolchildren.
Key words: diagnostic radiology, lumbar intervertebral discs, adolescents.
Are There Abnormalities in Peripheral and Central Components of Somatosensory Evoked Potentials in Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain?
