Expression of Concern

Alabdullatif, Saad M; Alajwad, Mohammed H; Kareemah, Mishal F; Almaghasilah, Israa A; Alsaedan, Abdullah M; Alenazi, Nawaf T; Alshaibani, Abdullah S; Abusaleh, Mohammad K; Maawadh, Lojain M; Alsolaiman, Ahmad A; Alshammari, Malak

doi:10.7759/cureus.x7

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…35 This idea is further supported by case reports of intense LBP in patients with obstructive aortic abdominal aneurysms. 1,12 Research regarding the effect of AAC in patients undergoing spinal surgery is sparse. One study by Sakaura et al demonstrated a significant association between AAC and increased risk of adjacent segment disease after lumbar fusion surgery 24 and less improvement in disability after surgery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of abdominal aortic calcification and lower back pain in patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis

Schönnagel,

Muellner,

Suwalski

et al. 2023

Pain

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) is hypothesized to lead to ischemic pain of the lower back. This retrospective study aims to identify the relationship between AAC and lower back pain (LBP) in patients with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis. Lower back pain was assessed preoperatively and 2 years after surgery using the numeric analogue scale. Abdominal aortic calcification was assessed according to the Kauppila classification and was grouped into no, moderate, and severe. A multivariable regression, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, and smoking status, was used to assess the association between AAC and preoperative/postoperative LBP as well as change in LBP after surgery. A total of 262 patients were included in the final analysis. The multivariable logistic regression demonstrated an increased odds ratio (OR) for preoperative LBP ≥ 4 numeric analogue scale (OR = 9.49, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.71-40.59, P < 0.001) and postoperative LBP ≥ 4 (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 0.92-3.21, P = 0.008) in patients with severe AAC compared with patients with no AAC. Both moderate and severe AAC were associated with reduced improvement in LBP after surgery (moderate AAC: OR = 0.44, 95% CI: 0.22-0.85, P = 0.016; severe AAC: OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.2-0.82, P = 0.012). This study demonstrates an independent association between AAC and LBP and reduced improvement after surgery. Evaluation of AAC could play a role in patient education and might be considered part of the differential diagnosis for LBP, although further prospective studies are needed.

show abstract