SIB #363 Is Lower Extremity Pain A Predictor of Spinal Pain?

The Study: Does lower extremity pain precede spinal pain? A longitudinal study                 

The Facts:

a. The authors wished to see if children aged 9-15 were more likely to develop spinal pain after having lower extremity pain.

b. They used data collected from weekly texts to the subject’s parents.

c. The parents were asked to report “spinal pain, lower extremity pain, or upper extremity

pain the preceding week.”

d. It was a prospective study.

e. The study was conducted in Denmark.

f. “Spinal pain often starts early and is common already in adolescence…”

g. The authors concluded: “Children were more likely to experience an incident event of spinal pain after experiencing LE [lower extremity] pain. The likelihood increased in children with more frequent or longer duration of LE pain, and was more pronounced in girls than in boys.”

Take Home:

Children who experienced lower extremity pain were more likely to develop spinal pain.

Reviewer's Comments:

I think that this will make sense to most clinicians. If someone has extremity pain this may very well alter the way they walk and affect the spine. In fact altered mechanics of gait would be expected to affect the spine.

Reviewer: Roger Coleman DC

Editor: Mark R. Payne DC

 Reference: Fuglkjaer S, Vach W, Hartvigseb J, Wedderkopp N, Junge T, Hestback L. Does lower extremity pain precede spinal pain? A longitudinal study. Eur J Pediatr.  2018 Dec;177(12):1803-1810. doi: 10.1007/s00431-018-3235-6. Epub 2018 Sep 19.

 Link to Abstract: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30232592