Evaluation of Conservative therapy in two groups of patients with low back pain associated with iliolumbar ligament enthesopathy and injury of muscles around hip in comparison with patients with other causes of low back pain

The most common problem in patients referred to orthopedic clinics is low back pain. Iliolumbar ligament enthesopathy is one of the causes of low back pain. In this study, we investigated the results of conservative therapy in two groups of patients with low back pain.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on 817 patients with back pain referred to our orthopedics clinic during 2013-2014. After diagnosis, patients were divided into two groups. Group A had pain with short external rotator muscles, iliolumbar ligament enthesopathy and gluteal muscle tenderness, and group B were presented with other causes of low back pain. After the end of the conservative therapy the Oswestry disability index were filled by subjects.

Of total, 303 patients (37.1%) were entered the group A and 514 patients (62.9%) were considered as group B with other causes of back pain. Out of 817 patients, 251 were males and 566 were females. The most common cause of pain was found to be discopathy with 438 cases (53.5%). The mean score of the Oswestry pain severity questionnaire was not statistically significant between 2 groups (P = 0.065) prior to the treatment. However, there was found a significant difference between the frequency distribution of the two groups according to the severity of the pain after the treatment (P = 0.0001). In conclusion, the results of our study indicated that the degree of disability, paraclinical cost, diagnosis based on the correct clinical examination in patients could be different, and patients with injuries such as iliolumbar enthesopathy and injured short extensor muscles around the hip and gluteus responded well to conservative therapy.