Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Chronic Low Back Pain: Correlation between Pain, Disability, and Disc Herniation

Chronic Low Back Pain (cLBP) manifests as compressed, radiating pain from the back to the nerve root's dermatome. The best method of screening the spine of patients with cLBP is Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI]. The study involved 70 patiants. A visual analog scale was employed in assessing the intensity of back and leg pain of patients using a visual analog scale [VAS]. A Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ-Arabic version) was used to assess the disability of patients. The patients were examined clinically, followed by an MRI of the spine and lower extremities. Using the Michigan State University [MSU] disc herniation classification, Disc displacement and the degree of nerve root compression were assessed. This study uses SPSS 23.0 version to analyze curated data in the documentation using Pearson's correlations. Based on the data, the mean and standard deviation for each descriptive variable were calculated. A low grade disc herniation and a VAS rating of 3 were not correlated based on the MRI results. The Pearson correlation coefficients for disc herniation with grade three (r = -0.212) and functional disability with grade three (r = 0.17) were weak. There was a weak correlation between the intensity of pain and functional disability of these patients (r = 0.159). Clinical symptoms and MRI results of the patients who are suffering from cLBP should be correlated to decide whether to perform a therapeutic intervention as the results showed that there was a weak correlation between pain and functional disability based on the degree of disc herniation.