Articles: back-pain.
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The literature on diagnostic tests available to the spine clinician for the evaluation of chronic low back pain was reviewed. ⋯ There are inherent limitations in the accuracy of all diagnostic tests. The tests used to diagnose the source of a patient's chronic low back pain require accurate determination of the abolition or reproduction of the patient's painful symptoms.
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A literature review and synthesis were performed. ⋯ Intraspinal medication delivery has become an effective technique for control of intractable pain in appropriately selected patients seen by spine surgeons.
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The acceptance of spinal manipulation as a reasonable method of treating certain patients with spinal pain over the past decade has led to a renewed interest and increased use of these techniques performed in conjunction with commonly used medications and procedures. Manual therapy is increasingly being used in conjunction with anesthetics, sedatives or analgesics as well as local, epidural and intra-articular injections. ⋯ Medicine-assisted spinal manipulation therapies have a relatively long history of clinical use and have been reported in the literature for over 70 years. However, evidence for the effectiveness of these protocols remains largely anecdotal, based on case series mimicking many other surgical and conservative approaches for the treatment of chronic pain syndromes of musculoskeletal origin. There is, however, sufficient theoretical basis and positive results from case series to warrant further controlled trials on these techniques.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2002
ReviewMultidisciplinary bio-psycho-social rehabilitation for chronic low back pain.
Chronic low back pain is, in many countries, the main cause of long term disability in middle age. Patients with chronic low back pain are often referred for multidisciplinary treatment. Previous published systematic reviews on this topic included no randomised controlled trials and pooled together controlled and non-controlled studies. ⋯ The reviewed trials provide evidence that intensive multidisciplinary bio-psycho-social rehabilitation with a functional restoration approach improves pain and function. Less intensive interventions did not show improvements in clinically relevant outcomes.
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Although possessing a long history of use, the therapeutic use of epidural steroid injections still needs substantiation. Refinements in our understanding of the pathophysiology of radicular pain and in the techniques used to deliver depo-steroids to the target tissue will lead to improved clinical outcomes and fewer technique and drug-related side effects. Administration of epidural steroids at lumbar spine sites is more common than at cervical spine levels, although the same pain management concepts are applicable. Comparative studies are necessary to clearly define the advantages and disadvantages of the use of fluoroscopy and the transforaminal technique.