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Comparison of the Thickness of Lateral Abdominal Muscles Between Pregnant Women With and Without Low Back Pain
Author(s) -
Rostami Mohsen,
Noormohammadpour Pardis,
Mansournia Mohammad Ali,
Hantoushzadeh Sedigheh,
Farahbakhsh Farzin,
Nourian Ruhollah,
Kordi Ramin
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pmandr
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.617
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1934-1563
pISSN - 1934-1482
DOI - 10.1016/j.pmrj.2014.10.014
Subject(s) - medicine , pregnancy , low back pain , gestational age , transversus abdominis , body mass index , ultrasound , gestation , obstetrics , etiology , surgery , radiology , genetics , alternative medicine , pathology , biology
Objectives To compare the thickness of the external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis muscles in pregnant subjects with and without low back pain (LBP) by the use of ultrasound to measure thickness. Design A case‐control study. Setting An academic and tertiary care referral spine and sports medicine center. Participants Fifty pregnant women with LBP during pregnancy and 54 pregnant control subjects. Methods Case and control subjects were matched for body mass index, gestational age, and number of previous pregnancies. A multiple linear regression model with adjustment for the gestational age of the subjects, as the potential confounder of the primary outcomes, was used to evaluate the association between LBP appearance and abdominal muscles thickness of the subjects. Main Outcome Measures The thickness of lateral abdominal muscles was measured by ultrasound with the subject in a hook‐lying position on the examination table. Results We found that there was no significant difference between pregnant subjects with and without LBP in terms of the thickness of external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis muscles. Conclusion These findings suggest that other factors rather than the thickness of core stabilizing muscles are influential in the etiology of LBP during pregnancy. We hypothesize that enlargement of uterus during pregnancy might influence the thickness of the lateral abdominal muscles.