Sonoelastography and Lumbopelvic Muscle Stiffness in Patients with Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review:

Overview

Journal Galen Med J

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2023 Sep 26

PMID 37750103

Authors

Hossein Rafsanjani Deh Qazi

Mohammad Ali Mohseni-Bandpei

Nahid Rahmani

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study aimed to systematically review studies conducted on the application of sonoelastography (SE) to evaluate lumbopelvic muscle stiffness in patients with low back pain (LBP). All relevant articles were retrieved from the available electronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane library, and CINAHL, using the keywords "Sonoelastography", "Elasticity Imaging Technique", "Muscle Stiffness", "Modulus Elasticity", "Low Back Pain". After initial searches, studies that met the inclusion criteria (i.e., published in English and sonoelastography were used to assess lumbopelvic muscle stiffness in both patients with LBP and healthy individuals) were enrolled. Also, any animal research, abstract of the seminar and/or conference, and/or non-English-language article were excluded. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. In total, eight relevant studies were selected for review. Three studies were considered to have excellent quality, and five were considered fair quality using the PEDro scale. All reviewed studies have reported that SE can be considered a non-invasive method for quantifying changes in lumbopelvic muscle stiffness. Muscle stiffness was significantly higher in LBP patients compared to healthy persons, as well as across subgroups of LBP patients in various test postures (P˂0.05). Only one study was conducted on the reliability of SE in healthy individuals, while another examined the validity of SE imaging. The results of the present systematic review indicated that SE imaging is a reliable and valid tool to identify muscle changes that occur in patients with LBP and evaluate the effects of rehabilitation treatment.

Citing Articles

The effect of a 5-week therapeutic massage on erector spinae and upper trapezius muscle stiffness as determined by shear-wave elastography: a randomized controlled trial.

Jelen A, Javornik E, Meh S, Kozinc Z Front Sports Act Living. 2024; 6:1428301.

PMID: 39253625 PMC: 11381258. DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1428301.

References

Negahban H, Mazaheri M, Kingma I, van Dieen J . A systematic review of postural control during single-leg stance in patients with untreated anterior cruciate ligament injury. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2013; 22(7):1491-504. DOI: 10.1007/s00167-013-2501-4. View

Neto T, Freitas S, Andrade R, Vaz J, Mendes B, Firmino T . Noninvasive Measurement of Sciatic Nerve Stiffness in Patients With Chronic Low Back Related Leg Pain Using Shear Wave Elastography. J Ultrasound Med. 2018; 38(1):157-164. DOI: 10.1002/jum.14679. View

Deyo R, Mirza S, Martin B . Back pain prevalence and visit rates: estimates from U.S. national surveys, 2002. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2006; 31(23):2724-7. DOI: 10.1097/01.brs.0000244618.06877.cd. View

Tier L, Salomoni S, Hug F, Besomi M, Hodges P . Shear modulus of multifidus and longissimus muscles measured using shear wave elastography correlates with muscle activity, but depends on image quality. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2020; 56:102505. DOI: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2020.102505. View

Koppenhaver S, Gaffney E, Oates A, Eberle L, Young B, Hebert J . Lumbar muscle stiffness is different in individuals with low back pain than asymptomatic controls and is associated with pain and disability, but not common physical examination findings. Musculoskelet Sci Pract. 2019; 45:102078. DOI: 10.1016/j.msksp.2019.102078. View

Maher C, Sherrington C, Herbert R, Moseley A, Elkins M . Reliability of the PEDro scale for rating quality of randomized controlled trials. Phys Ther. 2003; 83(8):713-21. View

Mohseni-Bandpei M, Fakhri M, Ahmad-Shirvani M, Bagheri-Nessami M, Khalilian A, Shayesteh-Azar M . Low back pain in 1,100 Iranian pregnant women: prevalence and risk factors. Spine J. 2009; 9(10):795-801. DOI: 10.1016/j.spinee.2009.05.012. View

Hoy D, Brooks P, Blyth F, Buchbinder R . The Epidemiology of low back pain. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2011; 24(6):769-81. DOI: 10.1016/j.berh.2010.10.002. View

Koppenhaver S, Kniss J, Lilley D, Oates M, Fernandez-de-Las-Penas C, Maher R . Reliability of ultrasound shear-wave elastography in assessing low back musculature elasticity in asymptomatic individuals. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2018; 39:49-57. DOI: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2018.01.010. View

10.

Mohseni-Bandpei M, Bagheri-Nesami M, Shayesteh-Azar M . Nonspecific low back pain in 5000 Iranian school-age children. J Pediatr Orthop. 2007; 27(2):126-9. DOI: 10.1097/BPO.0b013e3180317a35. View

11.

Moreau B, Vergari C, Gad H, Sandoz B, Skalli W, Laporte S . Non-invasive assessment of human multifidus muscle stiffness using ultrasound shear wave elastography: A feasibility study. Proc Inst Mech Eng H. 2016; 230(8):809-14. DOI: 10.1177/0954411916656022. View

12.

Ghamkhar L, Emami M, Mohseni-Bandpei M, Behtash H . Application of rehabilitative ultrasound in the assessment of low back pain: a literature review. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2011; 15(4):465-77. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2010.07.003. View

13.

Evirgen S, Kamburoglu K . Review on the applications of ultrasonography in dentomaxillofacial region. World J Radiol. 2016; 8(1):50-8. PMC: 4731348. DOI: 10.4329/wjr.v8.i1.50. View

14.

Olsen N, Qi J, Park J . Imaging and skeletal muscle disease. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2005; 7(2):106-14. DOI: 10.1007/s11926-005-0062-3. View

15.

Mohseni-Bandpei M, Fakhri M, Bagheri-Nesami M, Ahmad-Shirvani M, Khalilian A, Shayesteh-Azar M . Occupational back pain in Iranian nurses: an epidemiological study. Br J Nurs. 2006; 15(17):914-7. DOI: 10.12968/bjon.2006.15.17.21904. View

16.

Ekman M, Jonhagen S, Hunsche E, Jonsson L . Burden of illness of chronic low back pain in Sweden: a cross-sectional, retrospective study in primary care setting. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2005; 30(15):1777-85. DOI: 10.1097/01.brs.0000171911.99348.90. View

17.

Masaki M, Ji X, Yamauchi T, Tateuchi H, Ichihashi N . Effects of the trunk position on muscle stiffness that reflects elongation of the lumbar erector spinae and multifidus muscles: an ultrasonic shear wave elastography study. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2019; 119(5):1085-1091. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-019-04098-6. View

18.

Moseley G, Nicholas M, Hodges P . A randomized controlled trial of intensive neurophysiology education in chronic low back pain. Clin J Pain. 2004; 20(5):324-30. DOI: 10.1097/00002508-200409000-00007. View

19.

Murillo C, Falla D, Rushton A, Sanderson A, Heneghan N . Shear wave elastography investigation of multifidus stiffness in individuals with low back pain. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2019; 47:19-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2019.05.004. View

20.

Atlas S, Deyo R . Evaluating and managing acute low back pain in the primary care setting. J Gen Intern Med. 2001; 16(2):120-31. PMC: 1495170. DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2001.91141.x. View