Obesity increases the odds of intervertebral disc herniation and spinal stenosis; an MRI study of 1634 low back pain patients.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between BMI and intervertebral disc degeneration (DD), disc herniation (DH) and spinal stenosis (SS) using a large, prospectively recruited and heterogeneous patient population.

Methods: Patients were recruited through the European Genodisc Study. An experienced radiologist scored MRI images for DD, DH and SS.