Significance of bone scintigraphy in symptomatic spondylolysis.
In a prospective study, the authors evaluated the usefulness of bone scintigraphy in the work-up of young military personnel with lumbar spondylolysis and persistent low back pain. Ten out of 23 spondylolytic individuals with a recent history of low back pain had positive scintigrams, and none of a group of painless spondylolytic individuals had positive scans. We believe these results indicate that bone scintigraphy is of value in determining whether a spondylolysis in a young individual can be attributed to recent physical exertion or a specific recent traumatic incident.
D000328:Adult; D001416:Back Pain / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008887:Military Medicine; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013168:Spondylolisthesis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013169:Spondylolysis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*