Abstract No. : ABS0801: Prevalence of ‘Bertolotti Syndrome’ in patients with chronic low back pain coming to pain clinic- out patient department in an urban tertiary care hospital.

Abstract

Background and Aims:Bertolotti syndrome(BS) was first identified in 1917, as a common cause of lower back pain(LBP), especially in the younger population. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of BS in LBP patients and produce frequency estimates of BS for different demographics.Methods:Five hundred patients of both sex aged >18 years, presenting with lumbago, pygalgia or lower back or buttock pain, isolated or with radiculopathy with pain persisting for >3 months, numereical rating scale(NRS) score >5, were recruited. Patients with painful symptoms associated with other obvious etiology were excluded. Patients were investigated by ferguson view of antero-posterior lumbar spine radiograph. If pain was present at pseudoarticulation site on palpation then a diagnostic injection of 3 ml of 2% lignocaine was given at the pseudoarticulation or sacro-iliac neo joint. NRS was evaluated before and after injection. >50% improvement in NRS score were differentiated as BS.Results:The prevalence of lumbosacral transitional vertebra(LSTV) in the sample was 29.2%.The prevalence of BS was 15.2% which was higher in the study population (table 1). There were no statistically significant differences between men and women who had BS. No statistically significant difference was found between different age groups regarding the prevalence of BS.Conclusion:We conclude that Bertolotti syndrome is an underdiagnosed condition and a suitable analysis of a low back pain patient should be done to rule out BS Confirmation of pain originating from the pseudo articulation site can be made with local anaesthesia injections.Table 1Prevalence of BS and LSTVTotalMaleFemaleNumber of patients500341159Number of patients with LSTV146 (29.2%)113 (33.13%)33 (20.75%)Number of patients diagnosed as BS76 (15.2%)58 (17%)18 (11.32%)