Affiliations: Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Orthopaedic Department, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Valerio Sansone, MD, Orthopaedic Department, Università degli Studi di Milano, Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi IRCCS, Via R. Galeazzi 4, 20161 Milano, Italy. Tel.: +39 02 66215735; Fax: +39 02 66214770; E-mail: valerio.sansone@unimi.it
Abstract: Low-back pain is a common complaint during pregnancy and the post-partum period, and it may be due to a variety of conditions. Among these, a frequently overlooked cause is a sacral fracture. We report the case of a 37 year old woman, suffering from post-partum low-back pain which had not responded to treatment. Though rare, a sacral stress fracture must be considered in cases of prolonged low-back or sacral pain in pregnant or post-partum women. Plain radiographs are frequently inconclusive and MRI is the imaging technique of choice. Capacitive coupling electric fields (CCEF) seemed to be effective in treating pain and in reducing the patient's recovery time.
Keywords: Low-back pain, stress fractures, sacrum, pregnancy, capacitive coupling electric field
