A Comparison of the Abdominal and Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Size in Patients With Lumbar Spondylolisthesis and Healthy Patients at Rest and During Contraction Using Ultrasonography

Abstract

Objective: Using ultrasonography, this study investigated the abdominal and lumbar multifidus muscle size in patients with lumbar spondylolisthesis compared with healthy patients at rest and during contraction.

Methods: This research was a nonexperimental, analytic case-control study. Ultrasound imaging was used to assess the thickness of the abdominal and lumbar multifidus muscles in 25 healthy patients and 25 patients with spondylolisthesis. For the purpose of this study, both men and women, aged 30 to 70 years, were recruited from physiotherapy clinics affiliated with the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Measurements were taken at rest and during contraction.

Results: There was a significant difference in abdominal and lumbar multifidus muscle size between the healthy and spondylolisthesic groups, both at rest and contraction (P < .05 in all instances). No significant difference was found between the right and left for all measurements (P > .05).

Conclusion: Patients with spondylolisthesis had smaller stabilizer muscle thickness at rest and during contraction compared with the healthy group.

Keywords: Abdominal Muscles; Paraspinal Muscles; Spondylolisthesis; Ultrasonography.