13 Year Follow-up Study: MRI Findings with Chronic Back Pain

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2020 study that looked at the association of MRI findings and long-term disability in chronic low back pain patients over a 13 year period. The goal was to assess whether long-term disability is associated with baseline degenerative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in patients with low back pain (LBP). Guess what? It’s not. We know this already from many other studies but this is a good one because of it looked at people over such as long period of time.

From the author’s mouth about the findings: “In this study, no association was found between baseline MRI findings and 13-year disability in LBP patients with severe DD or FJD. This highlights the limited prognostic value of a single baseline MRI scan on long-term disability.”

In conclusion, the researcher states: “Degeneration on MRI was a frequent finding in patients with LBP. None of the MRI changes suggesting degeneration were associated with a worse outcome at 13-year follow-up.”

 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2192568220921391