Multifidus Degeneration, A New Risk Factor for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Case-Control Study.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze whether multifidus degeneration has a relationship with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical data of 40 patients with LSS were analyzed retrospectively. Moreover, 40 healthy people were selected as controls. Subjects of both groups underwent a 1.5-T lumbar spinal magnetic resonance imaging scan in our hospital, and then the multifidus muscularity, fatty infiltration ratio, and bilateral asymmetry at L4/5 level on magnetic resonance imaging were measured with ImageJ software to analyze and compare the multifidus parameters between the 2 groups.

RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the multifidus muscularity was lower, fatty infiltration ratio was greater, and muscle asymmetry was more significant at the L4/5 level in patients with LSS, and the difference between the 2 groups was statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Multifidus degeneration, including reduced volume, increased fatty infiltration, and bilateral muscle asymmetry, has an association with LSS.