title: Low back pain during pregnancy caused by a sacral stress fracture: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sacral stress fractures are a rare but well known cause of low back pain. This type of fracture has also been observed as a postpartum complication. To date, no cases of intrapartum sacral stress fractures have been described in the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report the case of a 26-year-old Caucasian European primigravid patient (30 weeks and two days of gestation) who presented to our outpatient clinic with severe low back pain that had started after a downhill walk 14 days previously. She had no history of trauma. A magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed a non-displaced stress fracture of the right lateral mass of her sacrum. Following her decision to opt for non-operative treatment, our patient received an epidural catheter for pain control. The remaining course of her pregnancy was uneventful and our patient gave birth to a healthy child by normal vaginal delivery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that a sacral stress fracture must be considered as a possible cause of low back pain during pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, University of Aachen Medical Center, 30 Pauwels Street, 52074 Aachen, Germany. mpishnamaz@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pishnamaz
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sellei
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lichte
authors.forename: Hans C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Pape
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kobbe