Articles: low-back-pain.
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Low back pain (LBP) is very common in the general population. Most patients with LBP will receive an X-ray examination on lumbar spine; however, the results are likely to show a negative finding or degenerative joint disease, which are not truly pathological factors. Among various imaging diagnostic tools for active bony lesions of lumbar spine, planar bone scintigraphy has a higher sensitivity, but its ability to locate anatomic lesions is less satisfactory. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of SPECT for evaluation of LBP. ⋯ SPECT was more sensitive and located more lesions than planar bone scintigraphy, especially when the lesions were located at posterior element of vertebrae. Most of the lesions were distributed at the 4 th and 5 th lumbar vertebral segments. There was no significant statistical difference of abnormal SPECT related to X-ray finding. The use of SPECT was the first choice among all image modalities when cause of low back pain was assumed to arise from bone and joint disorder at clinical evaluation.
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J Manipulative Physiol Ther · Jul 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialA randomized clinical trial comparing chiropractic adjustments to muscle relaxants for subacute low back pain.
The adult lifetime incidence for low back pain is 75% to 85% in the United States. Investigating appropriate care has proven difficult, since, in general, acute pain subsides spontaneously and chronic pain is resistant to intervention. Subacute back pain has been rarely studied. ⋯ Chiropractic was more beneficial than placebo in reducing pain and more beneficial than either placebo or muscle relaxants in reducing GIS.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2004
ReviewA comprehensive review of clinical trials on the efficacy and safety of drugs for the treatment of low back pain.
A systematic review involving 50 randomized controlled trials (4,863 patients) published since 1980 was undertaken with the objective of assessing efficacy and safety of low back pain (LBP) medications. The methodological quality of each trial was evaluated based on a standardized system. ⋯ Available evidence supported the effectiveness of non-selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in acute and chronic LBP, of muscle relaxants in acute LBP, and of antidepressants in chronic LBP; safety results were heterogeneous. More rigorously designed trials should be implemented to establish comparative efficacy and safety of drugs used to treat chronic and acute LBP.
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Preventive medicine · Jul 2004
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA randomized controlled clinical trial for low back pain treated by acupressure and physical therapy.
Although acupressure has been reported to be effective in managing various types of pain, its efficacy in relieving pain associated with low back pain (LBP) remains unclear. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of acupressure with that of physical therapy in reducing low back pain. ⋯ Our results suggest that acupressure is another effective alternative medicine in reducing low back pain, although the standard operating procedures involved with acupressure treatment should be carefully assessed in the future.
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A literature review of the nine most widely used, condition-specific, self-administered assessment questionnaires for low back pain has been undertaken. General and historic aspects, reliability, responsiveness and minimum clinically important difference, external validity, floor and ceiling effects and available languages were analysed for the nine most-used outcome tools. ⋯ These criteria, however, are only part of the consideration. In part II the construction of these scales in relationship to the measurement domains will be evaluated.