The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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Review
Quality assessment of systematic reviews for surgical treatment of low back pain: an overview.
Low back pain is one of the most frequent reasons for medical appointments. Surgical treatment is widely controversial, and new surgical techniques and treatment modalities have been developed within the last decade. Treatment for low back pain should be evidence-based through systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Thus, the quality of these reviews is sometimes put into question as methodological mistakes are frequently seen. ⋯ In conclusion, most systematic reviews for low back pain do not reach very good or excellent quality, and only 27.5% of them have evidence-based conclusions. Including a meta-analysis is a significant factor to improve quality and evidence for systematic reviews.