Effect of Spinal Alignment Changes on Lower Back Pain in Patients Treated with Total Hip Arthroplasty for Hip Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Background and objectives: The influence of changes in spinal alignment after total hip arthroplasty (THA) on improvement in lower back pain (LBP) remains controversial. To evaluate how changes in spinal malalignment correlate with improvement in preoperative LBP in patients who underwent THA for hip osteoarthritis. Materials and Methods: From November 2015 to January 2017, 104 consecutive patients who underwent unilateral THA were prospectively registered. Whole spine X-rays and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were obtained preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively. The PROs used were the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) for back pain, EuroQol 5 Dimension, and Short Form-12. Results: Seventy-four (71%) patients with complete data were eligible for the analysis. The sagittal parameters changed slightly but significantly. Coronal alignment significantly improved. Twenty-six (37%) patients had LBP preoperatively. These patients had smaller lumbar lordosis (LL), larger PT, and larger PI minus LL than the patients without LBP. Fourteen (54%) of the 26 patients with preoperative LBP showed pain improvement, but there were no significant differences in the radiographic parameters. Conclusions: Although preoperative LBP was likely to be resolved after THA, there were no significant correlations between alignment changes and LBP improvement. The cause of LBP in patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA) patients might be multifactorial.

Keywords: alignment; lower back pain (LBP); patient-reported outcomes (PROs); total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Figure 1

(A) Preoperative (left) and postoperative (right) frontal radiographs, showing pelvic obliquity angle, which was defined as the angle between the line connecting the bilateral iliac crests and a horizontal line. (B) Preoperative (left) and postoperative (right) lateral radiographs, showing spinopelvic parameters.