Symptomatic spondylolysis is a stress reaction caused by microtrauma during physical exercise, an imaging diagnostic subgroup of Adolescent Low Back Pain (ALBP), found in adolescent athletes. Early diagnosis increases the possibility of healing. Thus, it is important to divide ALBP into subgroups. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical tests that can distinguish symptomatic spondylolysis from other forms of ALBP in order to facilitate early referral for diagnostic imaging. The investigation subjects were a prospective case series with a control group, 25 subjects with ALBP and 13 subjects that had no history of LBP. The 2 groups were examined using the same clinical protocol. MRI of the whole lumbar spine was performed in both the case and control groups and CT investigations of the L4 and L5 vertebrae were performed in the case group. Significant differences between the 2 groups were found in 8 of our clinical tests. No clinical test, alone or in combination, could distinguish between spondylolysis and other forms of ALBP. As 88% of the subjects in the case group had MRI findings and almost 50% had spondylolysis, MRI should be performed at an early age in young athletes with ALBP.
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate healing frequency in different stages of stress reactions in the Pars Interarticularis (PI) using a classification system with MRI and CT. The intervention was 3-month rest from physical activity, without a brace, with the exception of activities of daily living. Materials & Method: Twelve adolescent athletes with different stages of Spondolysis were included in the study. They had pathology in the Pars Interarticularis and were clinically examined with MRI and CT 3-6 weeks after debut of Low Back Pain (LBP) and re-evaluated after 3 months intervention with rest from physical activity. Results: A combination of MRI and CT scanning to investigate suspected injuries to Pars Interarticularis in adolescent athletes revealed 6 different stages of Spondolysis that ranged from marrow oedema to pseudoarthrosis. After 3 months of rest from physical activity the early stages of Pars Interarticularis injuries healed significantly better than the later stages with rest from physical activity. Conclusion: The combination of MRI and CT revealed 6 stages of stress reactions instead of 4 as in Hollenberg's staging with MRI only. In the 3 earliest stages, of these 6, rest from physical activity for 3 months can heal the stress reaction.
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