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Back pain and radiological changes in the thoraco‐lumbar spine of athletes. A long‐term follow‐up
Author(s) -
Lundin O.,
Hellström M.,
Nilsson I.,
Swärd L.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0838.2001.011002103.x
Subject(s) - athletes , medicine , radiological weapon , physical therapy , lumbar spine , back pain , lumbar , low back pain , surgery , pathology , alternative medicine
From 1996 to 1999, back pain and radiological changes in the thoraco‐lumbar spine were investigated in 134 former top athletes, representing wrestling, gymnastics, soccer and tennis (age 27–39 years) and a group of 28 non‐athletes of comparable age. This is a long‐term follow‐up investigation of a previous radiological study of the spine with clinical correlation. Despite significantly more radiological abnormalities among the athletes, they did not report higher frequency of back pain than the non‐athletes. A decrease in disc height or new disc height reduction in one or more of the intervertebral discs between the two examinations correlated significantly with back pain at follow‐up.