A prospective study of centralization of lumbar and referred pain. A predictor of symptomatic discs and anular competence.
METHODS
The presence or absence of rapidly centralizing, peripheralizing, or abolishing low back and radiating pain, as identified during a McKenzie mechanical lumbar assessment of patients with chronic lumbar pain, was compared prospectively with discographic pain provocation and anular competency.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate any relation between the responses of centralization and peripheralization with discographic findings.


BACKGROUND
Centralization of referred pain has been reported as a very common occurrence during McKenzie assessment and treatment. Patients whose pain centralizes have been shown to achieve superior treatment outcomes. A dynamic internal disc model has been hypothesized as an underlying mechanism for centralization that has not been studied previously.


METHODS
Patients with chronically disabling low back pain who were referred for discography underwent preliminary blinded McKenzie clinical assessment and were categorized into three groups by their pain response. Patterns, or lack thereof, of pain response were then compared with blinded discographic pain provocation and anular findings.


RESULTS
During the McKenzie assessment, the referred pain of 50% centralized with 74% having positive discograms, of which 91% had an intact anulus. The pain of 25% peripheralized only (would not centralize); 69% of these had positive discograms, but only 54% had an intact anulus. The distal pain of 25% did not respond at all, and only 12.5% of these had positive discograms.


CONCLUSIONS
The McKenzie assessment process reliably differentiated discogenic from nondiscogenic pain (P < 0.001) as well as competent from an incompetent anulus (P < 0.042) in symptomatic discs and was superior to magnetic resonance imaging in distinguishing painful from nonpainful discs.
Donelson
R
R
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, SUNY Health Science at Syracuse, USA.
Aprill
C
C
Medcalf
R
R
Grant
W
W
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D010808:Physical Examination; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed