Functional Alterations in Gluteal Muscles due to Low Back Pain: A Qualitative Review of the Literature

Abstract

One of the biggest problem in clinical examination of the patients with LBP symptoms is the lack of a comprehensive diagnosis protocol comprising all muscular alterations responsible for LBP. Connected to lumbar pelvis region, gluteal muscles perform the important role of transferring the upper-body movements as forces to the lower-body limbs. Therefore, the gluteal muscles have received an increasing attention by clinicians and researchers diagnosing LBP. However, there has been a scattered list of studies using electromyography, image scanning and physical examination techniques for monitoring the gluteal muscles of gluteus maximus (GMax), gluteus medius (GMed). In the present research, we reviewed the literature comprehensively, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the measurement methods. By discovering the disagreements reported by different researchers, the resultant mutual findings across all studies were identified. This study concluded a strong relationship between a dysfunction in operation of the gluteal muscles and occurrence of LBP. The functional changes in gluteal muscles include fatigability in the GMax muscles, neuromuscular alterations and a decrease in abduction strength of the GMedmuscles.