Quantitative Ultrasound Imaging Differences in Multifidus and Thoracolumbar Fasciae between Athletes with and without Chronic Lumbopelvic Pain: A Case-Control Study

New trends in ultrasound imaging are focused on exploration of morphology and muscle quality. The main goal of the study was to evaluate the first-order descriptor and echostructure of lumbar multifidus at the L4 vertebral level in athletes with and without chronic lumbopelvic pain (CLPP). A case-co...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Almazán Polo, Jaime, López López, Daniel, Romero Morales, Carlos, Rodríguez Sanz, David, Becerro De Bengoa Vallejo, Ricardo, Losa Iglesias, Marta, Bravo Aguilar, María, Calvo Lobo, César
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/125030
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/125030
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:61
Ultrasonography
Lower back pain
Athletes
Grayscale analysis
Quantitative ultrasound imaging
Lumbar multifidus
Cross-sectional area
Ciencias Biomédicas
3299 Otras Especialidades Médicas
Descripción
Sumario:New trends in ultrasound imaging are focused on exploration of morphology and muscle quality. The main goal of the study was to evaluate the first-order descriptor and echostructure of lumbar multifidus at the L4 vertebral level in athletes with and without chronic lumbopelvic pain (CLPP). A case-control study was performed in 15 semiprofessional athletes with CLPP and 15 without (healthy athletes). Lumbar multifidus echointensity and echovariation were measured for muscle quality assessment. Echostructure was used to evaluate lumbar multifidus cross-sectional area (CSA) at resting and during muscle contraction, respective differences during both phases (CSADif.), activation patterns, and thoracolumbar fasciae morphology and thickness. Significant differences with a large effect size were observed in quantitative data from CLPP and healthy athletes for left lumbar multifidus CSADif. and thoracolumbar fasciae morphology. Categorical data showed statistically significant differences with a small-to-moderate effect size for lumbar multifidus activation pattern and thoracolumbar fasciae morphology. Athletes with CLPP showed a reduced CSA difference between lumbar multifidus contraction and at resting and higher disorganization of thoracolumbar fasciae morphology compared to healthy athletes. These findings suggest the importance of dynamic exploration of the lumbar region and connective tissue in sports performance and injury prevention.