Lumbar Sympathetic Afferents and Low Back Pain Pain from a lower lumbar disc

Discogenic Pain There is anatomic evidence that the disc can be a source of pain (nociceptor) because of the innervation that exists along the outer annulus from the ventral nerve roots that provide branches anteriorly (grey ramus communicans) and posteriorly (sinuvertebral nerve). However, there are many other structures in and around the spine that may be nociceptors and is often difficult for the clinician to differentiate these potential sources of pain.