VCOM View Magazine Vol. 13 | No. 1

Research Collaborative VCOM and Virginia Tech Research Projects to Study Low Back Pain L ow back pain (LBP) is a condition that affects millions of people each year. It is the leading cause of disability worldwide and the condition for which the greatest number of people may benefit from rehabilitation. and Virginia Tech. The researchers will recruit people who have LBP, as well as people who don’t, to perform ultrasound imaging on their thoracolumbar fascia (TLF). Ultrasound is a useful diagnostic tool, in part because it does not use ionizing radiation, is inexpensive and is effective in detecting soft tissue changes. by Amy Ostroth

Al Kozar, DO, knows a little something about LBP. Dr. Kozar is a professor of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and sports medicine at VCOM-Virginia. He is also a practicing physician at the VCOM Sports & Osteopathic Medicine practice in Blacksburg where he regularly treats patients suffering from LBP. He points out that chronic back pain can have a major impact on the quality of life because in addition to biological and mechanical challenges, it also has psychosocial implications. “Everybody responds differently, based on their upbringing and how their family addressed pain and how much the pain affects their ability to do their work or their daily activities,” he says. “We often put up with back pain until it prevents us from doing those things. But pain tells us there is dysfunction somewhere in the musculoskeletal system.” Dr. Kozar is collaborating with Vincent Wang, PhD, director of Virginia Tech’s Orthopedic Mechanobiology Laboratory, on two research projects to better understand the causes of back pain and how to treat it more effectively. Like Dr. Kozar, Wang is an expert in the musculoskeletal system. His laboratory in Virginia Tech’s Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics has received millions of dollars in funding to “support a variety of projects related to skeletal soft tissue biomechanics, repair, and healing.”The new research will build on recent advances in Wang’s lab and will include faculty and students at both VCOM

The TLF is integral to body movement, enabling us to bend over and pick things up and helping our bodies sense movement, action and our location in space. Its dysfunction may be a frequent cause of LBP. “ “Collaborations are vital.” - Vincent Wang, PhD Virginia Tech’s Director of the Orthopedic Mechanobiology Laboratory However, because it is incredibly thin its injury is difficult to diagnose clinically. Imaging techniques such as ultrasound allow physicians and researchers to more effectively investigate changes not only to a patient’s TLF structure but also the glide motion within the layers of the TLF. The teams are partnering on two funded projects related to diagnosing and treating LBP. The first project will take 24 months and is being funded by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) because service members and veterans often suffer from LBP due to the nature of their work. The DoD funding will enable the teams to study the effectiveness of a novel treatment called hydrodissection, which involves using ultrasound

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