The significance of motor-point tenderness in patients with lumbar intervertebral disc protrusions.
The relationship between tender motor-points and physical signs was investigated in 48 patients with low back pain caused by intervertebral disc protrusions. There were 42 controls with no history of back pain. Motor-point tenderness was quantified on a four-point scale. All patients (except one) showed a variable degree of tenderness in the motor-points related to the relevant myotomes as determined by clinical examination. The greater the tenderness, the longer was the period of disability. The degree of tenderness seemed to have a prognostic value related to recovery from pain and the length of disability as judged by absence from work.
D000328:Adult; D002081:Buttocks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007866:Leg; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D009132:Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011312:Pressure