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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Surg.
Sec. Orthopedic Surgery
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2024.1515585
This article is part of the Research Topic Pain Management in Spine Surgery View all articles

The effect of aspirin on lumbar degeneration: an imaging-based study

Provisionally accepted
Hai-Yun Niu Hai-Yun Niu 1,2Feiyu Zu Feiyu Zu 1Zhenguo Shang Zhenguo Shang 1Ze Gao Ze Gao 1Dazhuang Miao Dazhuang Miao 1Di Zhang Di Zhang 1*
  • 1 Orhopedics Department of Spine Surgery, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
  • 2 Orthopedics Department of Joint Surgery, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Purpose: This study aims to investigate how aspirin influences lumbar degeneration by analyzing the effect of aspirin on patients with low back pain (LBP) and concurrent atherosclerosis.Methods: Using 1:1 nearest neighbor matching based on propensity score matching (PSM), 73 patients who regularly took aspirin were assigned to the aspirin group, while another 73 patients who did not take aspirin formed the control group. Radiographs were used to measure lumbar lordosis (LL) and intervertebral height index (IHI). Subcutaneous fat tissue thickness (SFTT), paravertebral muscle fat infiltration area (%FIA), cartilage endplate (CEP) Modic changes, and modified Pfirrmann grading scores were performed based on lumbar MRI.Results: After PSM analysis, confounders between the aspirin and control groups were balanced. A total of 73 pairs of patients were analyzed in this study. The aspirin group showed lower SFTT(L1/2) and a reduced incidence of CEP Modic changes, compared to the control group (both P<0.05). Additionally, the %FIA and Pfirrmann scores were lower in the aspirin group, particularly in the upper lumbar spine (both P<0.05). No significant differences were observed in LL and IHI between the aspirin and control groups.In summary, conservative treatment with aspirin protects against upper lumbar spine degeneration, although its effect on the lower lumbar spine is less pronounced.

    Keywords: Aspirin, Lumbar degeneration, Spine, MRI, Low Back Pain

    Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Niu, Zu, Shang, Gao, Miao and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Di Zhang, Orhopedics Department of Spine Surgery, Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.