Clinical symptoms of patients with intervertebral vacuum phenomenon.

Objective: Intervertebral vacuum phenomenon (IVP) often occurs in lower lumbar intervertebral spaces, however, there are no reports regarding the clinical symptoms of IVP. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical symptoms of patients with IVP.

Methods: The subjects enrolled in this study were 105 consecutive patients who visited the spine clinic of our hospital between January and June 2004, and were diagnosed as having lumbar spinal canal stenosis. We interviewed all patients about clinical symptoms patients with lumbar degenerative disease often complain of, and the presence or absence of each symptom was compared between the VP (+) group and VP (-) group.

Results: Twenty-nine patients (82.9%) in the VP (+) group and 16 patients (22.9%) in the VP (-) group had more severe lower back pain in the morning (p < 0.0001). As to the actions that exacerbated lower back pain, a significantly higher percentage of patients in the VP (+) group experienced worsening of lower back pain when standing up or rolling over than in the VP (-) group. Twenty-eight patients (80.0%) in the VP (+) group felt they could predict changes in the weather, while only six patients (8.6%) in the VP (-) group felt the same way, showing a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: The present results suggested that vacuum phenomenon was related to lower back pain in the morning, lower back pain when standing up or rolling over, and lower back pain was influenced by changes in the weather.