INTRODUCTION: Relation between low back pain, pain in lower extremity and functional dependence in aged is proven for the behavior of pain during the execution of activities of daily life. To remain in foot, to pull or to push great objects and to walk can unchain pain and cause great suffering for the aged ones. OBJECTIVE: Ahead of this, the present study had as objective to identify causes in literature relative to chronic lumbar pain and pain in lower extremity in aged. METHOD: Search in the databases Medline and Pubmed of literature in English published between 1992 and 2008 was fullfilled. RESULTS: Of 48 found articles, 33 had been analyzed. Not-mechanical causes of pain had been mentioned as vertebral compression fractures related to osteoporosis, lumbar spinal stenosis, metastatic cancer, malignancy, cauda equina syndrome, bacteremia, genitourinary infections, tuberculosis, polymyalgia rheumatica, aortic aneurysm, Paget disease and Parkinson disease. Between the mechanical causes, prevalent in aged and related to the musculoskeletal system, had been found doubts about relation of cause and effect established between osteoartritis and pain. In women, relation between menopause, estrogen use and occurrence of osteoporosis-fracture-pain still seems little clarified. Association between lumbar pain and pain in lower extremity can suggest mechanical causes or other causes, because circulatory disease and osteoartritis, common in aged, not even are pain sources. CONCLUSION: For the analysis of literature we concluded that beyond the mentioned etiology, other possibilities of causes, not yet completely identified and understood, can be in the origin of lumbar pain and pain in lower extremity of aged.
Etiology; Lumbar pain; Aged; Lower extremity
