The main clinical and diagnostic characteristics of patients with low back pain and sacroiliac joint diseases (results of the IOLANTA-II study)

Objective : to investigate the clinical and diagnostic characteristics of patients with low back pain in the presence of sacroiliac joint (SIJ) disease. Patients and methods . The investigation design involved three visits: V 1 (inclusion); V 2 (after 7 days), and V 3 (after 3 months); after the screening period, the investigation enrolled 259 patients aged 65.5 [62.5; 69.5] years; of them there were 165 (63.7%) women. At V 1 , according to magnetic resonance imaging findings, the patients were divided into two groups: 1) 157 patients without confirmed SIJ disease; 2) 102 patients with confirmed SIJ disease. During all visits, the investigators made general clinical and neurological examinations and assessed the intensity of pain syndrome according to a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain in millimeters, a neuropathic pain component according to the DN4 questionnaire, by determining the blood parameters: transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, Beta-Crosslaps, the indicator of bone matrix formation procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (P1NP) and by estimating the urinary level of deoxypyridinoline. Results and discussion . At all visits, Group 2 patients with higher VAS pain scores had a pain history that was statistically significantly longer (p<0.001). The ANOVA analysis showed that the patients in Group 2 had statistically significantly higher values of TGF-β1, IL-1β, IL-6, and bone resorption markers than those in Group 1, which suggests the relationship between pain syndrome and the presence of an inflammatoryresorptive process in patients with SIJ disease. Conclusion . A high (39.4%) prevalence of SIJ disease was noted in patients over 60 years of age with low back pain. During the follow-up period, there was a decrease in bone resorption markers and cytokines; however, the SIJ disease group showed less pronounced changes with statistically significant differences in all parameters than in the non-SIJ disease group. It is advisable to consider an algorithm for diagnosing a patient over 60 years of age with low back pain, by mandatorily examining his/her SIJ. Treatment policy, including methods for correction with drugs, should be discussed based on the findings.