USING SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR VERTEBROGENIC BACK PAIN

Conflicts of interest: No conflicts of interest Sources of funding: No funding obtained Introduction Chronic low back pain is a global problem, with vertebrogenic back pain being one of the causes. Vertebral end plate nociception is generated by the basivertebral nerve, which becomes painful during inflammatory or degenerative changes to the end plate. SPECT CT scans can be used to demonstrate high uptake at end plates and therefore a target for basivertebral nerve ablation. Method All patients who were thought to have vertebrogenic back who were being worked up for a basivertebral nerve ablation in Hampshire Hospital Foundation Trust (HHFT) also underwent a diagnostic SPECT CT as well as an MRI scan pre-operatively. Results In total there were 24 patients who had vertebrogenic pain who were identified in HHFT who had high uptake on a SPECT CT and had other causes of back pain ruled out. All patients had Modic type 1 or Modic type 2 changes on MRI scan and subsequently underwent a basivertebral nerve ablation. Conclusion SPECT CT is another form of imaging modality which can be used to diagnose vertebrogenic back pain prior to basivertebral nerve ablation.