The influence of psychologic factors on diskography in patients with chronic axial low back pain

Objective: To determine whether a patient's presenting psychometric scores affect the findings of a pressure and injection speed-controlled manometric lumbar diskography in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Design: A prospective, correlation-based, investigative study. Setting: Free-standing ambulatory spine surgery center. Participants: Two hundred sixty-three disks from 81 patients (54 men, 27 women). Intervention: Diskography was performed using pressure and injection speed-controlled techniques. The patients were divided into psychometric subgroups (normal, at risk, abnormal) according to the Distress and Risk Assessment Method (DRAM). Main Outcome Measures: The diskography findings on each psychometric DRAM subgroup were evaluated. Results: Across the individual psychometric categories, the positive rates of diskography in the normal, at-risk, and abnormal subgroups were 75.0% (9/12), 59.5% (25/42), and 70.4% (19/27), respectively (P >.05). The mean numeric rating scores of pain at 15 and 50psi above the opening pressure were similar in the 3 psychometric subgroups. There was no correlation between the diskography results and the psychometric subgroupings. Conclusions: In patients with CLBP, there is no correlation between the presenting psychometric DRAM score and the findings from pressure and injection speed-controlled manometric lumbar diskography.