Fibre type characteristics of the lumbar paraspinal muscles in normal healthy subjects and in patients with low back pain

Abstract

A knowledge of the alteration in the fibre type profile of paraspinal muscle associated with low back pain is essential for the design of successful rehabilitation programmes. In attempting to compare the muscles of patients with low back pain with those of controls, few previous studies have considered factors such as gender, age, and size of the subjects, each of which can potentially confound interpretation of the results. We obtained samples of lumbar paraspinal muscle during spinal surgery from 21 patients with low back pain and, using the percutaneous biopsy technique, from 21 control volunteers matched for gender, age, and body mass. The samples were subject to routine histochemical analysis to determine characteristics of muscle fibre type. Compared with controls, the muscle of the patients had a significantly higher proportion of type-IIB (fast-twitch glycolytic) fibres than type-I (slow oxidative) fibres. The mean size of a given fibre type did not differ between the patients and the controls. Consequently, the relative area of the muscle occupied by type-IIB fibres was higher and that by type-I fibres was lower in the patients. The patients had a greater number of muscle samples with more than 1% type-IIC fibres, and abnormalities that could be described as pathological were more marked in the patients than in the controls. In conclusion, the paraspinal muscles of patients who have low back pain display a more glycolytic (faster) profile; this can be expected to render them less resistant to fatigue.

Muscle Fibre Type Distribution of the Thoracolumbar and Hindlimb Regions of Horses: Relating Fibre Type and Functional Role

“…multifidi was comparable but slightly lower overall across horse breeds (37-54%) than has been reported in cadaver samples from lumbar regions of healthy humans (43-69%) [2][3][4]. However, when surgical specimens and those from people with a history of lower back pain were included, the proportion of MFT I in people varied widely from 36%-97% [4,30]. This may imply that some of the horses in the current study had an unknown history of back pain, or it might be due to the difference in the biomechanics (and reduced vertebral mobility) and/or the locomotory behavior between humans and horses [1].…”

Análise de parâmetros de força e resistência dos músculos eretores da espinha lombar durante a realização de exercício isométrico em diferentes níveis de esforço

“…Differences with regard to the fatigability of the muscles evaluated were observed bilaterally only when the IMF of the iliocostalis and multifidus muscles were compared. It has been demonstrated that vertebral muscles found in lower vertebral levels present prevalence of type II fibres (less resistant to fatigue) (30,31) . These findings corroborated results obtained in the present study, in which the multifidus muscle presented higher fatigue level.…”

A non-randomized clinical control trial of Harrison mirror image methods for correcting trunk list (lateral translations of the thoracic cage) in patients with chronic low back pain

“…Such muscular alterations are responsible for postures such as those observed in idiopathic and functional scoliosis, as well as trunk list [2,15,17,35,39,47]. Muscular dysfunction in chronic LBP sufferers has included a more glycolytic (faster) profile of their trunk muscles, which is expected to render chronic LBP less resistant to fatigue [38]. In addition, investigation in scoliotic patients has observed a significantly lower proportion of type I (slow-twitch oxidative) fibers in the muscle on the concave side of the scoliotic curve [39].…”