scholarly journals Ultrasonographic Changes of Abdominal Muscles in Subjects with and without Chronic Low Back Pain

Healthcare ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Iria Da Cuña-Carrera ◽  
Alejandra Alonso-Calvete ◽  
Eva M. Lantarón-Caeiro ◽  
Mercedes Soto-González

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a prevalent disfunction in the spine, affecting both women and men. The implication of the abdominal muscles in this disfunction has been studied, including wrong breathing patterns or inactivity of this area. However, there is a lack of studies examining changes in thickness of abdominal with ultrasonography. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze the differences in the thickness of abdominal muscles at rest and during breathing between subjects with and without CLBP. A total of 72 subjects were divided in two groups: participants with CLBP (n = 36) and participants without CLBP (n = 36). In both groups, the thickness of the four abdominal muscles was measured and compared at rest and during breathing with ultrasonography. In TrA and IO there were no significant differences between groups, but those subjects with CLBP increased the muscle thickness more than participants without pain during breathing. In EO there were no differences in muscle thickness between groups and between rest and breathing. In RA, subjects with CLBP showed less muscle thickness than subjects without pain during breathing, but no changes were found at rest. In conclusion, the deepest abdominal muscles, TrA and IO, appear to increase their thickness and RA appear to decrease more in subjects with CLBP, in comparison with healthy participants.

Author(s):  
Ecenur Atli ◽  
Dilber Karagozoglu Coskunsu ◽  
Zeynep Turan ◽  
Ozden Ozyemisci Taskiran

Abstract Objective To examine the effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) combined with core stabilization exercises (CSE) in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods Thirty-six patients (mean age 33.6±12.6 years) with CLBP were randomly assigned to 4 weeks (12 sessions) of NMES group (NMES combined with CSE) (n=18) vs. Control group (sham NMES and CSE) (n=18). After the 4 weeks, same exercises were given as home exercise program without NMES. The outcome measures were Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and ultrasonography. Ultrasonography was used for measuring transversus abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO), external oblique (EO) muscles thickness and lumbar multifidus muscle thickness and area. Assessments were performed at baseline and 4th week and eighth week follow-up. Results In both groups, the change of ODI, VAS and NHP values of the first measurement according to the values of the 4th week and the eighth week were found statistically significant (p=0.001; p<0.01). There were no statistically significant differences in ODI, VAS and NHP scores between the 4th week and the eighth week in both groups (p>0.05). None of NMES and control group measurements with US showed a statistically significant increase in the TrA, IO, EO thickness and multifidus thickness and area (p>0.05). Conclusions It was shown that NMES can be tolerated by patients with CLBP, but the addition of simultaneus NMES to CSE had no contribution to the clinical outcome measures.


2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 814-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Massé-Alarie ◽  
Véronique H. Flamand ◽  
Hélène Moffet ◽  
Cyril Schneider

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahnaz Aboufazeli ◽  
Mohammad Akbari ◽  
Ali Ashraf Jamshidi ◽  
Mohammad Saleh Jafarpisheh

Background. Chronic low back pain (LBP) leads to long-term physical and psychological problems and may result in acute deterioration of the pain. It is hypothesized that size changes in selected limb and pelvis muscles during contracting movements are different between healthy individuals and LBP patients. Materials and methods. A case-control study including two groups of 30 female participants with and without LBP symptoms was designed. Participants were 20-45 years old (36.7±6.7, healthy subjects; 34.6±6.2 LBP subjects). Ultrasonography was used to estimate the thicknesses of the quadratus lumborum (QL), gluteus medius (GMed), transversus abdominis (TrA) and lumbar multifidus (MF). Thickness changes of the muscles in a submaximal contracting position compared to the rest position were measured. Statistical analysis included an independent t-test to determine the significance of differences, and the Kolmogrov-Smirnov two-sample test to evaluate the normality and reliability. Results. All muscles increased their thickness during contractions. The average increase in LBP subjects was lower than in the healthy subjects. The smaller increase in the muscle thickness of GMed in the LBP group may suggest a weakness because of imbalance in the GMed muscle of LBP patients. Conclusions. 1. Ultrasonography of local and global muscles is an appropriate device for clinical diagnosis of LBP. 2. Strengthening TrA, MF, and GMed muscles for pain prevention is effective in the prevention and treatment of LBP.


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