Low back pain

Summary

Low back pain (LBP) or lumbago is a common disorder involving the muscles, nerves, and bones of the back, in between the lower edge of the ribs and the lower fold of the buttocks. Pain can vary from a dull constant ache to a sudden sharp feeling. Low back pain may be classified by duration as acute (pain lasting less than 6 weeks), sub-chronic (6 to 12 weeks), or chronic (more than 12 weeks). The condition may be further classified by the underlying cause as either mechanical, non-mechanical, or referred pain. The symptoms of low back pain usually improve within a few weeks from the time they start, with 40–90% of people recovered by six weeks. In most episodes of low back pain, a specific underlying cause is not identified or even looked for, with the pain believed to be due to mechanical problems such as muscle or joint strain. If the pain does not go away with conservative treatment or if it is accompanied by "red flags" such as unexplained w

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_back_pain

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related publications (13)

Related publications

Related people

Related units

Related concepts (36)

Related concepts

Related courses (1)

Related courses

Related lectures (2)

Related lectures

Degeneration of the intervertebral discs : Effects of Mechanical Stress on Intervertebral Disc Cells ; Selection of a Cell Carrier for the In Vivo Delivery of Fetal Spine Cells

Valérie Loewensberg

[...] Low back pain affects nearly 80% the population at least once in their lifetime. Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is thought to play a role in the development and onset of low back pain. The center part of the disc, the nucleus pulposus (NP), which supports high compressive loads daily, shows early signs of degeneration, long before the outer part of the disc, the annulus fibrosus (AF) degenerates. This work is divided into two parts: the first part focuses on the biomechanics of IVD cells in response to cyclic loading, whereas the second part focuses on the selection of a cell carrier for the further in vivo delivery of fetal spine cells to induce disc regeneration [... click on "Download fulltext" for full abstract]

2008

Selection of a cell carrier for the in vivo delivery of fetal spine cells

Valérie Loewensberg

Objective: Several cell carriers need to be selected and characterized for their compatibility with fetal cartilaginous cell survival and activity. In order to assess the in vivo regeneration capacity of fetal cartilaginous cells, these cell carriers will be used as a delivery system in an animal model of intervertebral disc degeneration. Background: The intervertebral disc (IVD) is part of the 3-joint complex, which brings flexibility to the spine. In addition, the IVD is a shock absorber and is submitted to variable loads during daily activity. Heighty percent of people will suffer from back pain in their life. Degeneration of the lumbar IVD is though to be one major cause of low back pain. Up to now, there is no treatment for disc degeneration. Conservative cares, medication and surgery alleviate the pain but do not treat the causes. Moreover, fusion surgery (which consists in removing the degenerated IVD and to fuse the two adjacent vertebrae) can lead to further degeneration by destabilizing the whole spine. IVD degeneration is a complex process. The primary causes are unknown but it is well-established that disc cells are unable to produce enough matrix in degenerated conditions. The overall goal of the project is to regenerate the IVD by injecting "active" cells. The choice of these cells is an important point. Two sources of cells have already been selected according to several criteria. The next step of the project consists in selecting an appropriate cell delivery system to be test the regeneration potential of the selected fetal cells in an animal model of IVD degeneration.

2008

Low back pain is one of the most prevailing medical concerns and can often be associated with the degeneration of the intervertebral disc. This degeneration results in a loss of biological and mechanical properties, especially a loss of viscoelastic properties. In the present study a correlation between viscoelasticity of a hydrogel-cell construct and the extracellular matrix production is researched. Therefore, a model that mimics the real intervertebral disc, composed of a confined hydrogel, is developed. The first part of the project is focalized on the biocompatibility of the confinement chamber. The second part will focalize on the extracellular matrix production from a hydrogel-cell construct submitted to dynamical mechanical stimulations and the viscoelastic properties of theses constructs. Thereby, a multiwell stimulator was developed and 4 different stimulations were performed during 1 month. The stimulations do not seem having great effects on the extracellular matrix production. This study demonstrates also the feasibility to stimulate hydrogel-cell constructs for 1 month, and to use a novel device for stimulation: the multiwell stimulator.

2009