Post COVID-19 Status of Low Back Pain: An Observational Study

Background: Low back pain in COVID-19 occurs mainly due to muscle pain, neuropathic pain, and joint pain, mainly facet joints. Neuropathic pain occurs when COVID-19 affects the central nervous system. Neurogenic invasion is the commonest cause. Viral infection can injure the peripheral nervous system by directly affecting the microbes and secondary immune over activation. This study aimed to explore the characteristics of changes related to pain and functional limitations in patients with low back pain who became infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.Methods: This is an observational study that was carried out in the pain clinic, Department of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Intensive Care Medicine, BMU. Each patient was asked for changes involving low back pain intensity using the visual analogue scale (VAS), which measures pain intensity before and after COVID-19, functional limitations that occur after COVID-19 using the post-COVID-19 functional status scale (PCFS), and anxiety and depression after COVID-19, by using the hospital acquired anxiety and depression scale (HADS). The response was documented in a data sheet and statistical analysis was carried out by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 for Windows.Results: Out of 96 patients initially experiencing mild pain before COVID-19 infection, 39 cases (70.9%) transitioned to moderate pain, while 16 cases (29.1%) deteriorated to severe pain post COVID-19 infection. Among the total 41 cases initially experiencing moderate pain before COVID-19 infection, 13 (31.7%) remain moderate, while 28 (68.3%) cases deteriorated to severe pain after COVID-19 infection. This association was not statistically significant (p > 0.711). The association of VAS score with PCFS score of patients was found to be statistically significant, (p value 0.001). The association of VAS score with HADS score of patients was also observed. The p value of HADS-D is 0.176 and HADS-A is 0.039.Conclusion: The present study revealed increased pain intensity and limited functional status after COVID-19 infection.