Researchers from Baskent University Hospital and the Alanya Research Center, both in Antalya, Turkey, show facet joint effusion (the collection of fluid in the spinal joints) and interspinal ligament edema (swelling of the interspinal ligaments) are the most common sources of such pain.

The study involved 372 patients with lower back pain and 249 healthy patients, all of whom underwent MRI accompanied by STIR (short inversion time inversion recovery) sequences.

"The most common imaging findings in patients with lower back pain were soft tissue changes, mainly facet joint effusion, 85.5 percent, and interspinal ligament swelling, 80.6 percent," said Dr. Nefise Cagla Tarhan, lead author of the study.

"Soft tissue changes are important in the understanding of lower back pain and prevention and treatment options should focus more on these changes," said Tarhan. "With this new MR technique, prevention and treatment options for lower back pain can focus more on soft tissue degenerative changes that cause facet joint effusion and interspinal ligament swelling."

This study appears in the American Journal of Roentgenology.