Heart rate variability in sciatica patients referred to spine surgery: a case control study

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Arto J Hautala³  Mikko P Tulppo³  Antti M Kiviniemi³  Eero Kyllönen¹  Jukka Puolitaival¹  Jaro Karppinen²  Jarmo Södervall¹ 

[1] Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland;Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Work and Health Ability, and Disability Prevention Centre, Oulu, Finland;Department of Exercise and Medical Physiology, Verve Research, Kasarmintie 13, P.O. Box 404, Oulu, 90101, Finland

关键词: Vagal activity;    Sympathovagal balance;    Sciatica;    Back pain;    Autonomic nervous system;   

Others  :  1132710
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2474-14-149

 received in 2012-10-08, accepted in 2013-04-23,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

A chronic pain condition may result in altered autonomic nervous system regulation in various patient populations. We evaluated whether autonomic regulation differs between sciatica patients referred to spine surgery and age-matched healthy controls analyzed with heart rate variability techniques (HRV).

Methods

HRV of patients (n = 201) and healthy controls (n = 138) were measured in standing conditions (5 min). High frequency (HF) power as an index of cardiac vagal modulation and the low-to-high-frequency (LF/HF) ratio and short-term fractal scaling exponent α₁ as indices of sympathovagal balance were analyzed. Pain intensity was assessed on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and perceived disability with Oswestry Disability Index.

Results

The Oswestry and VAS scores were higher in the patients than in the controls (p < 0.0001 for both). HF power was markedly lower for the patients compared to the controls (p < 0.0001). The LF/HF ratio and α₁ were higher in the patients than in the controls (p < 0.01 for both). After adjusting for sex, smoking, BMI, and leisure-time physical activity, HF power (p = 0.011) and α₁ (p = 0.012) still differed between the groups. Among the patients, HF power was slightly associated with the duration of chronic pain (r = −.232, p = 0.003).

Conclusions

Sciatica patients referred to spine surgery had altered cardiac autonomic regulation expressed as decreased vagal activity and an increased sympathovagal balance toward sympathetic dominance when compared with age-matched healthy controls.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Södervall et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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