Sacroiliac Joint May Play a Much Greater Role in Low Back Pain

It is well documented that low back pain is the most common presenting complaint in a chiropractic office. A growing body of evidence has elevated the importance of the sacroiliac joint in low back pain and suggested a reduction in the role of the lumbar spine as likely the most common cause. This April 2010 study was supported by the Arthritis Society and conducted at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. Radiographs of 315 patients ages 18-60 with chronic low back pain greater than 3 months duration were included in the study. Two radiologists read the films and categorized the SI joint as normal, degenerative or inflammatory. The authors found that “a significantly large proportion of the cohort (23.8%) had degenerative changes in the SI joint. Degenerative change in the SI joint has received little attention in prior investigations and is clinically under-recognized…it appears unrelated to concurrent OA in the lumbar spine.”