Endplate fracture associated with intradiscal dextrose injection.

Intradiscal injections have been used for many years in the treatment of chronic pain. These injections consisted of many substances providing variable pain relief from discogenic pain. Following an intradiscal dextrose injection series, a physically active patient developed superior and inferior lumbar endplate fractures, producing a drastic increase in pain. The pathology of endplate fractures and their contribution to chronic low back pain is subsequently reviewed. A discussion of various intradiscal agent injections is included. Also, the pathophysiology of the production of endplate fractures as related to intradiscal injections is discussed.