TY - JOUR
T1 - Obesity in children with low back pain
T2 - implications with imaging phenotypes and opioid use
AU - Rudisill, Samuel S.
AU - Hornung, Alexander L.
AU - Kia, Cameron
AU - Mallow, Gary Michael
AU - Aboushaala, Khaled
AU - Lim, Perry
AU - Martin, John
AU - Wong, Arnold Y.L.
AU - Toro, Sheila
AU - Kozaki, Takuhei
AU - Barajas, Juan Nicolas
AU - Colman, Matthew
AU - Phillips, Frank M.
AU - An, Howard S.
AU - Samartzis, Dino
N1 - Funding Information:
Author disclosures: SSR: Nothing to disclose. ALH: Nothing to disclose. CK: Nothing to disclose. GMM: Nothing to disclose. KA: Nothing to disclose. PL: Nothing to disclose. JM: Nothing to disclose. AYLW: Nothing to disclose. ST: Nothing to disclose. TK: Nothing to disclose. JNB: Nothing to disclose. MC: Nothing to disclose. FMP: Nothing to disclose. HSA: Stock Ownership: Medyssey Inc, Bioventis Inc, Stryker, Spinalcyte Inc. Endowments: Mortan International (Paid directly to institution). DS: Royalties: Elsevier. Stock Ownership: Multiple, nonmedical related. Private investments; Board of Directors: Global Spine Journal, European Spine Journal. Scientific Advisory Board: Neurospinal innovations. Research Support -Investigator Salary: NIH, Rush University (Paid directly to institution). Grants: NIH (Paid directly to institution).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2023/7/7
Y1 - 2023/7/7
N2 - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Low back pain (LBP) is common in children and adolescents, carrying substantial risk for recurrence and continuation into adulthood. Studies have linked obesity to the development of pediatric LBP; however, its association with lumbar spine degeneration, alignment parameters, and opioid use remains debated. PURPOSE: Considering the increasing prevalence of pediatric obesity and LBP and the inherent issues with opioid use, this study aimed to assess the association of obesity with lumbar spine degeneration, spinopelvic alignment, and opioid therapy among pediatric patients. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: A retrospective study of pediatric patients presenting to a single institute with LBP and no history of spine deformity, tumor, or infection was performed. PATIENT SAMPLE: A totasl of 194 patients (mean age: 16.7±2.3 years, 45.3% male) were included, of which 30 (15.5%) were obese. OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of imaging phenotypes and opioid use among obese to nonobese pediatric LBP patients. Magnetic resonance and plain radiographic imaging were evaluated for degenerative phenotypes (disc bulging, disc herniation, disc degeneration [DD], high-intensity zones [HIZ], disc narrowing, Schmorl's nodes, endplate phenotypes, Modic changes, spondylolisthesis, and osteophytes). Lumbopelvic parameters including lumbar lordosis, pelvic tilt, sacral slope, pelvic incidence and pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis (PI–LL) mismatch were also examined. METHODS: Demographic and clinical information was recorded, including use of opioids. The associations between obesity and lumbar phenotypes or opiod use were assessed by multiple regression models. RESULTS: Based on multivariate analysis, obesity was significantly associated with the presence of HIZ (adjusted OR: 5.36, 95% CI: 1.30 to 22.09). Further analysis demonstrated obesity (adjusted OR: 3.92, 95% CI: 1.49 to 10.34) and disc herniation (OR: 4.10, 95% CI: 1.50 to 11.26) were associated with opioid use, independent of duration of symptoms, other potential demographic determinants, and spinopelvic alignment. CONCLUSIONS: In pediatric patients, obesity was found to be significantly associated with HIZs of the lumbar spine, while disc herniation and obesity were associated with opioid use. Spinopelvic alignment parameters did not mitigate any outcome. This study underscores that pediatric obesity increases the risk of developing specific degenerative spine changes and pain severity that may necessitate opioid use, emphasizing the importance of maintaining healthy body weight in promoting lumbar spine health in the young.
AB - BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Low back pain (LBP) is common in children and adolescents, carrying substantial risk for recurrence and continuation into adulthood. Studies have linked obesity to the development of pediatric LBP; however, its association with lumbar spine degeneration, alignment parameters, and opioid use remains debated. PURPOSE: Considering the increasing prevalence of pediatric obesity and LBP and the inherent issues with opioid use, this study aimed to assess the association of obesity with lumbar spine degeneration, spinopelvic alignment, and opioid therapy among pediatric patients. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: A retrospective study of pediatric patients presenting to a single institute with LBP and no history of spine deformity, tumor, or infection was performed. PATIENT SAMPLE: A totasl of 194 patients (mean age: 16.7±2.3 years, 45.3% male) were included, of which 30 (15.5%) were obese. OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of imaging phenotypes and opioid use among obese to nonobese pediatric LBP patients. Magnetic resonance and plain radiographic imaging were evaluated for degenerative phenotypes (disc bulging, disc herniation, disc degeneration [DD], high-intensity zones [HIZ], disc narrowing, Schmorl's nodes, endplate phenotypes, Modic changes, spondylolisthesis, and osteophytes). Lumbopelvic parameters including lumbar lordosis, pelvic tilt, sacral slope, pelvic incidence and pelvic incidence-lumbar lordosis (PI–LL) mismatch were also examined. METHODS: Demographic and clinical information was recorded, including use of opioids. The associations between obesity and lumbar phenotypes or opiod use were assessed by multiple regression models. RESULTS: Based on multivariate analysis, obesity was significantly associated with the presence of HIZ (adjusted OR: 5.36, 95% CI: 1.30 to 22.09). Further analysis demonstrated obesity (adjusted OR: 3.92, 95% CI: 1.49 to 10.34) and disc herniation (OR: 4.10, 95% CI: 1.50 to 11.26) were associated with opioid use, independent of duration of symptoms, other potential demographic determinants, and spinopelvic alignment. CONCLUSIONS: In pediatric patients, obesity was found to be significantly associated with HIZs of the lumbar spine, while disc herniation and obesity were associated with opioid use. Spinopelvic alignment parameters did not mitigate any outcome. This study underscores that pediatric obesity increases the risk of developing specific degenerative spine changes and pain severity that may necessitate opioid use, emphasizing the importance of maintaining healthy body weight in promoting lumbar spine health in the young.
KW - Alignment
KW - Children
KW - Disc degeneration
KW - Imaging
KW - Obesity
KW - Opioids
KW - Pediatric
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85153067283&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.spinee.2023.03.008
DO - 10.1016/j.spinee.2023.03.008
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36963445
AN - SCOPUS:85153067283
SN - 1529-9430
VL - 23
SP - 945
EP - 953
JO - Spine Journal
JF - Spine Journal
IS - 7
ER -