Anatomical Basis of Low Back Pain

Introduction: Low back ache is one of the commonest complaints of patients coming to the Out Patient department. Patients from urban setups are rescued from the agonizing tribulations of severe back aches because of easy access to various multi-speciality hospitals. The rural population at the same time does not have ease of access to such secondary and tertiary health care, thereby causing anguish for lengthy periods of time.The present study aims to study the surface landmarks of lumbosacral region and to correlate them with conditions causing low back ache. Materials and methods: The study was a cross sectional study including 163 patients in the age group of 30- 60 years, (100 males and 63 females) with complaints of low back pain for more than 1 week, from the Orthopaedics department of Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Puducherryconstituted the study population. Measurements were taken and reported in terms of mean and range noted in the given condition. Results: The significant findings noted were; Spinal length, lateral rotation and posterior rotation are commonly affected in all conditions.Distance between spine and Venus dimple is significant in lateral protrusion of Inter vertebral disc.Movements are restricted to a maximum in cases of lumbar disc protrusion and lumbar canal stenosis. Conclusion: The present study gives an idea as to the measures which are reduced in various conditions. Additional studies have to be done in detail regarding severity of each of these factors causing back ache. The study will ultimately be useful for the rural population where a diagnosis can be made up to a certain extent and thus delineate a proper line of investigation or treatment depending on the clinical finding itself.