Academic Opinion Leaders in the Field of Spine Surgery & Sacroiliac Joint Experts Attend SI-BONE's National Summit on the Diagnosis of Sacroiliac...(opedic surgery residents are rarely taug...),Health

Diagnosing SI Joint difficulties can be difficult. Individual clinical tests are not highly reliable. Because of this, the orthopedic surgery community has insufficiently addressed this important joint. As a result, diagnosis and treatment of SI Joint dysfunction have become the purview of physical therapists, who provide temporary relief through muscle strengthening techniques, and sometimes a pelvic belt for support.

To counter this trend, the Summit group determined that a combination of 3-5 diagnostic tests are optimal for evaluating an LBP patient suspected of having SI Joint pathology. These tests include provocative maneuvers, positioning and pain injection exams. Significantly, most of these tests alone have low sensitivity in determining the SI Joint as a source of LBP, but combined have a greater likelihood of providing the rationale for intervention to treat SI Joint pathology. However, it was the consensus of the attendees that the diagnosis of SI Joint Disease should include one injection that alleviates at least 75%, or 2 injections that both alleviate at least 50%, of the patient's pain.

Steven Garfin, MD, who moderated the Summit, responded to a question on Summit outcomes: "I came into the meeting with a modest amount of knowledge regarding SI Joint pathology related to chronic LBP and came away, as I suspect the other attendees did, with an increased awareness that there may be instances where the SI Joint should be considered in the diagnosis, and that many surgeons do not evaluate this possible cause/source for complaints." He further commented that, "the Summit group agreed to work closely to bring understanding of the SI Joint diagnostic challenge and share their findings wi
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