Does the location of low back pain indicate its origin?

Abstract

A possibility of the diagnosis of low back pain based on the location of pain was discussed. In our laboratory, following facts were demonstrated inrats. The ventral portion of the lumbar disc was innervated by sympathetic sensory fibers non-segmentally, while the posterior portion and the facet joint were innervated by both non-segmental sympathetic fibers and segmental somatic fibers. Electrical stimulations of the ventral portion of the lumbar disc elicited a spinal reflex in the genitofemoral nerve innervating the groin area. Recently it was reported that nerve bundles in the lumbar spinal nerves show an anteroposterior stratification in humans. Given that the sympathetic sensory fibers projecting the lumbar spine line insuch a layer structure, the ventral and dorsal portions of the lumbar spine would correspond to the groin and low back pain, allowing the diagnose of the anteroposterior location of a low back pain disease.