SynthesisEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2008
Vertebral endplate signal changes (Modic change): a systematic literature review of prevalence and association with non-specific low back pain.
Synthesis in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 231 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Probiotics for Modic Changes: a Randomised Controlled Study to Elucidate the Effect of Probiotics on Vertebral Inflammatory End-plate Changes, So-called Type 1 Modic Changes
Subclinical Propionibacterium Acnes Infection Estimation in the Intervertebral Disc (SPInE-ID): a Prospective Cohort
Comparing Effectiveness Two Intratissue Percutaneous Electrolysis (EPI) Interventions for Chronic Low Back Pain: Lumbar Nerve Root Stimulation vs Trigger Points Stimulation
Who cites it
231 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Construction and evaluation of animal models of endplate injury: a systematic review.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Measuring and reporting of vertebral endplate bone marrow lesions as seen on MRI (Modic changes): recommendations from the ISSLS Degenerative Spinal Phenotypes Group.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019Guideline
- Modic changes-Their associations with low back pain and activity limitation: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Pathobiology of Modic changes.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2016Pooled it
- Do Modic changes have an impact on clinical outcome in lumbar spine surgery? A systematic literature review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2016Pooled it
- MRI Findings of Disc Degeneration are More Prevalent in Adults with Low Back Pain than in Asymptomatic Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2015Pooled it
- Oedema on STIR modified the effect of amoxicillin as treatment for chronic low back pain with Modic changes-subgroup analysis of a randomized trial.European radiology · 2021Trial
- Association of Modic change types and their short tau inversion recovery signals with clinical characteristics- a cross sectional study of chronic low back pain patients in the AIM-study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2020Trial
- Efficacy of antibiotic treatment in patients with chronic low back pain and Modic changes (the AIM study): double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, multicentre trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2019Trial
- Differential patient responses to spinal manipulative therapy and their relation to spinal degeneration and post-treatment changes in disc diffusion.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- The effect of zoledronic acid on type and volume of Modic changes among patients with low back pain.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Trial
- Can group-based reassuring information alter low back pain behavior? A cluster-randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2017Trial
- The association between Modic changes and pain during 1-year follow-up in patients with lumbar radicular pain.Skeletal radiology · 2014Trial
- Trial
- Efficacy of zoledronic acid for chronic low back pain associated with Modic changes in magnetic resonance imaging.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2014Trial
- Influence of low back pain and prognostic value of MRI in sciatica patients in relation to back pain.PloS one · 2014Trial
- Do more MRI findings imply worse disability or more intense low back pain? A cross-sectional study of candidates for lumbar disc prosthesis.Skeletal radiology · 2013Trial
- Modic changes, chronic low back pain, and lifestyle and mental health factors: a cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
171 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The prevalence of "vertebral endplate signal changes" (VESC) and its association with low back pain (LBP) varies greatly between studies. This wide range in reported prevalence rates and associations with LBP could be explained by differences in the definitions of VESC, LBP, or study sample. The objectives of this systematic critical review were to investigate the current literature in relation to the prevalence of VESC (including Modic changes) and the association with non-specific low back pain (LBP). The MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SveMED databases were searched for the period 1984 to November 2007. Included were the articles that reported the prevalence of VESC in non-LBP, general, working, and clinical populations. Included were also articles that investigated the association between VESC and LBP. Articles on specific LBP conditions were excluded. A checklist including items related to the research questions and overall quality of the articles was used for data collection and quality assessment. The reported prevalence rates were studied in relation to mean age, gender, study sample, year of publication, country of study, and quality score. To estimate the association between VESC and LBP, 2 x 2 tables were created to calculate the exact odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Eighty-two study samples from 77 original articles were identified and included in the analysis. The median of the reported prevalence rates for any type of VESC was 43% in patients with non-specific LBP and/or sciatica and 6% in non-clinical populations. The prevalence was positively associated with age and was negatively associated with the overall quality of the studies. A positive association between VESC and non-specific LBP was found in seven of ten studies from the general, working, and clinical populations with ORs from 2.0 to 19.9. This systematic review shows that VESC is a common MRI-finding in patients with non-specific LBP and is associated with pain. However, it should be noted that VESC may be present in individuals without LBP.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.