Rambabu Vatte's research while affiliated with National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research and other places

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a complex syndrome which includes a nociceptive (NcP) component, a neuropathic (NeP) component, or a mixture of components (mixed pain). The NeP component (NePC) in LBP is defined as the presence of NeP with or without an NcP. Objective: This meta-analysis aimed at assessing the pooled prevalence of NePC in patients with LBP and at identifying the factors causing significant heterogeneity in reported prevalence. Study Design: Meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out, with inclusion of all epidemiological studies describing the NeP prevalence levels in LBP patients while using standard diagnostic methods. The "pooled prevalence rate (PPR)" of NePC, either on its own or in combination with NcP, was calculated. A pre-specified subgroup analysis was carried out, considering LBP duration, presence of leg pain, diagnostic method(s), and questionnaire(s) used. Results: The meta-analysis included 20 studies relating to a total of 14,269 LBP patients, of whom 7,969 patients (55.8%) were identified as presenting with NePC. The pooled PR (95% CI) of NePC in patients with LBP was 0.47 (0.40-0.54), while the pooled PR of NcP was 0.56 (0.48-0.63). Higher NePC pooled PR values were identified in LBP with leg pain as compared to uncomplicated LBP (respectively: 0.60; 0.47-0.73 vs 0.27; 0.23-0.31; Pinteraction < 0.01). Limitations: The quality of the included studies was assessed using ad-hoc criteria. Due to the limited number of available studies, one may need to be cautious in reaching conclusions about the impact of disease duration on NePC prevalence values. We pooled studies which used a range of different diagnostic methods, with putatively different sensitivity/specificity diagnosing levels. Conclusion: Overall, high NePC prevalence levels were here identified in LBP patients. As the pain is a subjective phenomenon and there is no gold standard for the diagnosis of NePC, there is the possibility that the pooled effect estimate may alter depending upon the diagnostic method used.

Background: Emerging evidence suggests an association between vitamin D deficiency and low back pain (LBP). Objective: To pool evidence on the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in patients with LBP. Study design: Meta-analysis. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was done in PubMed, Cochrane Database, and Google scholar for observational studies including cohort, cross sectional (CS), and case control (CC) evaluating the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in LBP patients. The primary outcome assessed was a prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in patients with LBP, presented as weighted pooled prevalence ratio (WPPR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) using the random effects model. Heterogeneity and inconsistency of the measurements were identified through Cochran's Q statistic and I² statistic. We also performed sensitivity analysis, publication bias (using funnel plot and Begg's test), and subgroup analysis. Results: Fourteen studies (6 were CC, 6 CS, and 2 cohort) involving 2602 patients were included in the final analysis. The WPPR (95% CI) of hypovitaminosis D in patients with LBP was found to be 0.72 (0.60-0.83). Marked heterogeneity was observed, median quality score of all studies was 7.5 interquartile range (IQR) (6.2 - 8.7) on a scale of 0 to 11. Sensitivity analysis showed robustness of the results. The WPPR of hypovitaminosis D was lower in CS at 0.60 (0.35-0.85) as compared to CC studies at 0.81 (0.72-0.90) (P < 0.01). The WPPR was lower in men at 0.74 (0.63-0.86) as compared to women at 0.84 (0.78-0.89) (P < 0.01). No publication bias was observed. Limitations: Heterogeneity in the cut off level of vitamin D to classify the included patients as vitamin D deficient. Conclusions: The high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was observed in patients with LBP. This provides a chance to screen the deficiency and correct it by supplementation, which can be therapeutic adjunct in the management of LBP patients. Key words: Low back pain, hypovitaminosis D, meta-analysis, pooled prevalence, systematic review.

Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a complex syndrome which includes a nociceptive (NcP) component, a neuropathic (NeP) component, or a mixture of components (mixed pain). The NeP component (NePC) in LBP is defined as the presence of NeP with or without an NcP. Objective: This meta-analysis aimed at assessing the pooled prevalence of NePC in patients with LBP and at identifying the factors causing significant heterogeneity in reported prevalence. Study design: Meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic literature search was carried out, with inclusion of all epidemiological studies describing the NeP prevalence levels in LBP patients while using standard diagnostic methods. The "pooled prevalence rate (PPR)" of NePC, either on its own or in combination with NcP, was calculated. A pre-specified subgroup analysis was carried out, considering LBP duration, presence of leg pain, diagnostic method(s), and questionnaire(s) used. Results: The meta-analysis included 20 studies relating to a total of 14,269 LBP patients, of whom 7,969 patients (55.8%) were identified as presenting with NePC. The pooled PR (95% CI) of NePC in patients with LBP was 0.47 (0.40 - 0.54), while the pooled PR of NcP was 0.56 (0.48 - 0.63). Higher NePC pooled PR values were identified in LBP with leg pain as compared to uncomplicated LBP (respectively: 0.60; 0.47 - 0.73 vs 0.27; 0.23 - 0.31; Pinteraction < 0.01). Limitations: The quality of the included studies was assessed using ad-hoc criteria. Due to the limited number of available studies, one may need to be cautious in reaching conclusions about the impact of disease duration on NePC prevalence values. We pooled studies which used a range of different diagnostic methods, with putatively different sensitivity/specificity diagnosing levels. Conclusions: Overall, high NePC prevalence levels were here identified in LBP patients. As the pain is a subjective phenomenon and there is no gold standard for the diagnosis of NePC, there is the possibility that the pooled effect estimate may alter depending upon the diagnostic method used. Key words: Neuropathic pain, nociceptive pain, low back pain, symptom-based questionnaire, chronicity.