Journal of North Khorasan

Introduction: Low back pain with definite pathology has a high prevalence in pediatric patients, but low back pain with unknown pathology is rare. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of low back pain with a definite cause and pathology in children.

 Materials and methods: The retrospective study was conducted on 55 patients (22 female and 33 male) with low back pain that referred to orthopedic clinic, and were under investigation and treatment between 2000 and 2003 years.

 Results: The average age of patients was 9.5 years (minimum 7 years and maximum 15 years). The causes of back pain in these patients were: spinal cord tumor (3 cases), Infection (3 cases), Spondylolisthesis (5 cases), spinal cord deformity (8 cases), Scheuermann's disease (6 cases),  Intervertebral disc herniation (4 cases),  spinal abnormalities (3 cases), trauma (12 cases) and unknown causes (11 cases). Only 11 patients (from 55 cases) had low back pain with uncertain cause (20%), Vice versa in adults, that about 70% of the cases have uncertain causes. Conclusion: Because low back pain with diagnosed pathology in children has a certain pathology (80%), so clinical, radiological and laboratory examinations are essential.