• Jean-François Chenot, Bernhard Greitemann, Bernd Kladny, Frank Petzke, Michael Pfingsten, and Susanne Gabriele Schorr.
• * All members of the National Care Guideline development group for nonspecific back pain are listed in eBox 1; Section Family Medicine, Institute for Community Medicine, University Hospital of Greifswald; Klinik Münsterland, DRV Westfalen; Department of Orthopedics, Fachklinik Herzogenaurach; ain Clinic, Center for Anesthesiology, Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Gööttingen; German Agency for Quality in Medicine (AQuMed/ÄZQ), Berlin.
• Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017 Dec 25; 114 (51-52): 883890883-890.

BackgroundFor many years, low back pain has been both the leading cause of days lost from work and the leading indication for medical rehabilitation. The goal of the German Disease Management Guideline (NDMG) on nonspecific low back pain is to improve the treatment of patients with this condition.MethodsThe current update of the NDMG on non-specific low back pain is based on articles retrieved by a systematic search of the literature for systematic reviews. Its recommendations for diagnosis and treatment were developed by a collaborative effort of 29 scientific medical societies and organizations and approved in a formal consensus process.ResultsIf the history and physical examination do not arouse any suspicion of a dangerous underlying cause, no further diagnostic evaluation is indicated for the time being. Passive, reactive measures should be taken only in combination with activating measures, or not at all. When drugs are used for symptomatic treatment, patients should be treated with the most suitable drug in the lowest possible dose and for as short a time as possible.ConclusionA physician should be in charge of the overall care process. The patient should be kept well informed over the entire course of his or her illness and should be encouraged to adopt a healthful lifestyle, including regular physical exercise.

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