At the annual meeting of North American Spine society in Philadelphia Sergio A. Mendoza-Lattes, M.D. suggested that Patients with low back pain have a significantly greater prevalence of bowel motility disorders, “Our findings suggest that nervous pathways involved in relaying pain in the lumbar spine affect the transmission of sensations from the bowels, causing bowel motility disorders”.

This findings resulted by studying 59 patients with low back pain and 39 patients with shoulder pain who were seen at the orthopedic clinic at the University of Iowa.

The patients with low back pain were 2.2 times more likely to have bowel motility disorders than the patients with shoulder pain, a statistically significant difference, Dr. Mendoza-Lattes , an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Iowa added.

The patients with low back pain were also 2.3 times more likely to use antidepressive, antianxiety, or mood-altering medications, but the use of these medications showed no correlation with the prevalence of bowel motility disorders.

Among the patients with low back pain, the use of opiates was linked with a significantly reduced prevalence of bowel motility disorders. Among those using narcotics, 25% had bowel disorders, compared with a 62% prevalence among those not using opiates. This finding suggests that the link between low back pain and bowel disorders is reduced by using opiates.