Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A compression fracture is a collapse of a vertebra. It may be due to trauma or due to a weakening of the vertebra (compare with burst fracture). This weakening is seen in patients with osteoporosis or osteogenesis imperfecta, lytic lesions from metastatic or primary tumors, [1] or infection. [2]
Middle back pain, also known as thoracic back pain, is back pain that is felt in the region of the thoracic vertebrae, which are between the bottom of the neck and top of the lumbar spine. It has a number of potential causes, ranging from muscle strain to collapse of a vertebra or rare serious diseases.
As the two vertebrae above and below the affected disc begin to collapse upon each other, the facet joints at the back of the spine are forced to shift which can affect their function. [7] Additionally, the body can react to the closing gap between vertebrae by creating bone spurs around the disc space in an attempt to stop excess motion. [8]
After age 50 or 60, osteoarthritic degeneration (spondylosis) or spinal stenosis are more likely causes of low back pain or leg pain. 4.8% of males and 2.5% of females older than 35 experience sciatica during their lifetime. Of all individuals, 60% to 80% experience back pain during their lifetime. In 14%, pain lasts more than two weeks.
The most common location is the midthoracic vertebrae, especially the eighth (T8). [6] Neurologic signs result from severe angulation of the spine, narrowing of the spinal canal, instability of the spine, and luxation or fracture of the vertebrae. Signs include rear limb weakness or paralysis, urinary or fecal incontinence, and spinal pain. [5]
In some, the x-ray findings may correspond to symptoms of back stiffness with flexion/extension or with mild back pain. [2] Back pain or stiffness may be worse in the morning. [4] Rarely, large anterior cervical spine osteophytes may affect the esophagus or the larynx and cause pain, difficulty swallowing [5] [6] or even dyspnea. [7]
The patient can also have referred pain from the body, which osteopathic physicians call viscerosomatic pain—this is pain from an organ that transmits pain signals to the upper back and spine.
Gibbus deformity is a form of structural kyphosis typically found in the upper lumbar and lower thoracic vertebrae, where one or more adjacent vertebrae become wedged. Gibbus deformity most often develops in young children as a result of spinal tuberculosis and is the result of collapse of vertebral bodies.