Use of MRI to Investigate Lumbar Muscle Inflammation as a Potential Cause of Low Back Pain

Understanding of how back pain manifests has been the focus of a considerable amount of research. Although there are several pathologies known to cause low back pain, a significant number of individuals still fail to receive a definitive diagnosis as to the cause of their pain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between the level of muscle inflammation measured using MRI and perceived pain ratings. A lifting task was performed to achieve lumbar musculature fatigue, and induce muscle pain. Prior to, immediately following, and 24-hours post lifting, pain levels were recorded and MRI scans were conducted to document inflammation levels in the lumbar muscles. All of the participants elicited significant fatigue during the lifting task that resulted in considerable pain immediately following and 24-hrs after the fatiguing exertions. Inflammation levels varied by time-period, decreasing unexpectedly immediately following the lifting task, but increasing 24-hrs following the lifting task. Although the results were not definitive in establishing whether lumbar muscle inflammation is a cause of low back pain, the results provided several interesting findings warranting further investigation. Future work will need to focus on the temporal patterns of muscular information and pain development.