Modic Changes of the Cervical and Lumbar Spine and Their Effect on Neck and Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

STUDY DESIGN: Systematic Review. OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the current literature and perform a meta-analysis on patients with cervical or lumbar spine Modic changes to determine if their baseline axial back pain and disability are comparable to patients without Modic changes. METHODS: A systematic review of the PubMed database was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. A meta-analysis was performed to compare the mean differences in back pain, leg pain, and disability based on the presence of cervical or lumbar spine Modic changes. A subgroup analysis of the different types of Modic changes was conducted to determine if Modic type affected back pain or disability. RESULTS: – After review of 259 articles, 17 studies were included for meta-analysis and ten studies were included for qualitative synthesis. In the lumbar spine, 10 high-quality studies analyzed Visual Analog Scale (VAS) back pain, 10 evaluated VAS leg pain, and 8 analyzed Oswestry Disability Index. VAS back pain (mean difference (MD), −.38; 95% CI, -.61 – .16) and Oswestry disability index (MD −2.52; 95% CI, −3.93 – −1.12) were significantly lower in patients without Modic changes. Modic change subtype was not associated with differences in patient-reported outcomes. Patients with cervical spine Modic changes did not experience more severe pain than those without MC. CONCLUSIONS: Modic changes in the lumbar spine are not associated with clinically significant axial low back pain severity or patient disability. Similar to the lumbar spine, Modic changes in the cervical spine are not associated with symptom severity, but they are associated with pain duration.