Possibilities of Surface Electromyography in the Diagnosis of Low Back Pain

Overview

Efforts to express objectively subjective data on chronic low back pain stimulated the implementationof a number of studies which attempt to detect „typical” significant changes in the recruiting of activity,mostly of paravertebral erectors. From a number of publications ensues that there are differencesin the activity of these muscles in healthy subjects and in patients with so-called non-specific chroniclow back pain. Findings assembled hitherto are frequently controversial, the investigations usedifferent methods, a different way of activation of participating muscles.Result: so far there is no statistically trustworthy investigation confirming significantly abnormalchanges of activation of paravertebral erectors in patients suffering from chronic low back pain, ascompared with a population sample without this painful experience.

Key words:
low back pain, EMG