An MRI longitudinal study in Low back Pain Patients: Assessment of Disc Herniation Grade 2.

Background: A herniated disc is assessed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). We assessed a correlation between MRI findings at baseline and follow-up to determine whether there is an ability to predict future progress in LBP among LBP patients with moderate disc prolapse (grade 2-disc herniation). Method: This is was a prospective longitudinal study conducted at single center with total of 65 patients, all of whom gave their informed consent to participate. Utilizing the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), patients were approached to rate how extreme the back pain was and to complete the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire for an evaluation of their disability. Then, the spine was assessed by MRI scan for all participants. Within 1.5 years of baseline MRI scan, 49 volunteers were repeat MRI scan for LBP patients. Result: The study found weak correlations between age, VAS scores, disability index, and the presence of disc herniation and LBP patients with moderate prolapsed discs (grade 2-disc herniation). Pain and disability also had a weak relation with Grade 2 (r=0.13, r=0.05). In addition, most MRI findings did not demonstrate a significant association with future LBP severity, regardless of whether participants had a history of LBP or not (correlation coefficient, r=0.08, p=0.7). Conclusion: It was concluded that MRI findings in both ongoing and forthcoming studies do not exhibit a statistically noteworthy association with the magnitude and position of lumbar disc herniation, pain, and disability for LBP patient with grade 2 disc herniation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]