Can we use antibiotics to treat back pain?
mis à jour le 17 August 2015 à 14:23It's been used to fight bacterial infections for as long as we can remember, now new research shows it might also relieve chronic back pain.
English and Danish researchers have made a startling discovery that could finally help millions of long suffering back pain patients.
Scientists actually discovered the presence of a bacteria lodged between two vertebrae in patients about to be operated on for a herniated disc.
What's more remarkable is that the bacteria in question is usually found on the skin and in the mouth and is known to be one of the causes of acne. The researchers discovered that it could also potentially trigger inflammation in the vertebrae too and wondered if there could be a link between the bacteria and back pain.
They then tested the effectiveness of antibiotics by forming two groups of 45 patients, all with chronic low back pain, where MRI analysis showed contamination by bacteria.
For 100 days, one group was treated with antibiotics, the other with a placebo. At the end of treatment, nothing had changed for the second group: the same pain, the same intensity.
While in the first group, patients had a noticeable decrease in the frequency and severity of their pain (rated 5/10 against 6.7 / 10 before treatment).
But the good news doesn't stop there. The effects of the antibiotic cocktail continued and the indications were that the bone structure was trying to "recover". In fact, one year after the test, only 19% of the test group complained of constant pain against 75% at baseline.
This work has opened a potential new approach to the treatment of chronic low back pain that is resistant to usual treatments. Besides surgery, physical therapy and anti-inflammatory. So will simple antibiotics one day be part of the treatment options?
Additional studies are needed identify precisely the function of this bacteria - to standardize the detection of patients and refine the duration of the medication - but once these are completed maybe it will lead to a green light for rheumatologists and a pain free future for those suffering back pain.
Mathieu Rached
