What Are Common Causes of Sudden Back Pain?

Backache Although backache may be a precursor of spinal disease, it can also be caused by urogenital system, digestive tract disease, cardiovascular system disease, tumor, etc. Pain may be acute, chronic, continuous, intermittent, may be confined to the back, or may radiate along the spine or legs. Pain can be exacerbated by activities such as bending over or lifting something, and it can be relieved after a break, or it can be unaffected by activity and body mass.

Basic Information

English name

backache

Visiting department

orthopedics

Common locations

Lower back

Common causes

Acute and chronic injuries, inflammatory lesions, spinal degenerative changes, abnormal bone development, tumors, visceral diseases, etc.

Common symptoms

Low back pain

Causes of back pain and common diseases

Acute and chronic injuries

(1) Acute injuries such as spinal fractures, tears in ligaments, muscles, and joint capsules, and acute disc herniation.

(2) Chronic injuries such as ligamentitis, muscle strain, spine bone joint hyperplasia and degeneration, and spinal spondylolisthesis.

2. Inflammatory lesions

Inflammatory lesions are divided into two types: bacterial inflammation and non-bacterial inflammation.

(1) Bacterial inflammation can be divided into purulent and specific infections such as spinal tuberculosis. Pyogenic infections are more common in intervertebral space infections, epidural abscesses, and vertebral osteomyelitis.

(2) Non-bacterial inflammation rheumatic myofiberitis, rheumatoid arthritis, third lumbar transverse process syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis, and can store joint dense osteitis.

3. Degenerative changes in the spine

Such as intervertebral disc degeneration, facet joint degenerative osteoarthritis, secondary spinal stenosis, senile osteoporosis, spondylolisthesis, and spinal instability.

4. Bone dysplasia

Scoliosis, hemivertebrae, nonunion spondylolisthesis, kyphosis, lumbar vertebral or sacral lumbar vertebrae, spina bifida and hook-shaped spinous processes, horizontal cuboid bone, lower limbs of varying length, flat feet

5. Poor posture

Long-term desk work or bent over work, pregnancy, obesity.

6. tumor

Bone and soft tissue tumors, bone marrow or nerve tumors, etc.

7. Involved pain caused by visceral diseases

Gynecological pelvic diseases, prostate diseases, etc. can cause low back pain, kidney diseases such as stones, pyelonephritis and retroperitoneal diseases such as abscesses, hematomas can cause back pain, liver and spleen and heart disease can cause back pain.

8. Mental factors

With the progress of society and the acceleration of the rhythm, such diseases gradually increase, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, psychotic spondylitis, neurasthenia, depression.

Back pain check

X-rays should be used as routine, but because of obstruction by the lungs, ribs, transverse processes, and sternum, sometimes the thoracic spine image is not clear. At this time, further MRI or CT examination is needed. If necessary, blood, urine, biopsy and other laboratory tests should be performed.

Differential diagnosis of low back pain

Back pain

In the case of median pain, there is tenderness on and between the spines, which is pain in the ligaments. Spine pain is mostly the spine itself. Spine pain on both sides of the spine with extensive tenderness is mostly lumbar back fascia, sacroiliac or trapezius muscle damage, the latter because of the distribution to the shoulder, often the cause of shoulder pain in neck and shoulder pain.

2. Symptoms of spinal cord compression

Symptoms of spinal cord compression such as simple back pain or intercostal neuralgia or mild trunk sensation in the lower limbs, movement, and bowel movements need to be identified. Patients with mild spinal cord compression often do not notice it on their own. During physical examination, increased muscle tone, hyperphysiological reflexes, or positive pathological reflexes may be found. At this time, thoracic spine lesions are mostly early, and spinal cord compression is light.

3. Thoracic spine deformity: There are no obvious trauma and thoracic kyphosis, scoliosis and other deformities are mostly caused by thoracic spine lesions. Patients with a history of cancer need to consider thoracic spine metastases. Women over 60 need to consider chronic vertebral compression deformation caused by osteoporosis, and acute compression fractures often cause severe pain.

4. Back pain caused by other internal organ diseases

Left back pain, fixed location, transient attacks, need to consider the possibility of coronary heart disease. Duodenal ulcers invade the pancreas, advanced lung cancer, gastric cancer, and pancreatic cancer can all cause back pain, but there are many other symptoms that are not difficult to identify.

Low back pain treatment principles

1. The patient develops acute severe back pain, immediately detects vital signs, and then quickly evaluates to rule out life-threatening diseases.

2. Those who are not affected by activities and have deep back pain should palpate the upper abdomen for pulsatile mass. Abdominal aortic dissection should be ruled out. At the same time, fasting and water should be reserved for emergency surgery. Venous access and oxygen inhalation equipment should be prepared.

3. Severe upper abdominal pain is radiated to the back, and the presence of bowel sounds and abdominal muscles are tense and tender. Perforation of ulcers or acute pancreatitis should be ruled out. Intravenous injection of liquid drugs, oxygen inhalation, and nasogastric tubes should be kept during fasting.