Articles: low-back-pain.
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The present report describes treatment of enlarged lumbar epidural veins in a patient with Budd-Chiari syndrome presenting with intractable radicular and low back pain. ⋯ Inferior vena cava stenosis related to hypertrophied caudate lobe producing lumbar epidural venous engorgements should be considered as one of the causes of radicular and low back pain. We could obtain a favorable clinical outcome by handling the primary cause of the venous engorgement.
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A systematic search of three electronic databases was done to identify randomized controlled trials on the effect of written or audiovisual information in low back pain. ⋯ Information based on a biopsychosocial model is recommended in primary care to shift patient beliefs on low back pain. Nevertheless, information delivery alone is not sufficient to prevent absenteeism and reduce healthcare costs.
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Population-based telephone survey in Missouri. ⋯ Race differences in diagnosis and surgery may help to explain why African Americans, relative to whites, receive lower workers' compensation medical expenditures, disability ratings, and settlement awards.
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Trunk stability requires muscle stiffness associated with appropriate timing and magnitude of activation of muscles. Abnormality of muscle function has been implicated as possible cause or consequence of back pain. This experimental study compared trunk muscle activation and responses to transient force perturbations in persons with and without self-reported history of low back pain. ⋯ The likelihood of muscle responses to perturbations was not significantly different between the two groups. The findings were consistent with the hypothesis that LBP subjects employed muscle activation in a quasi-static task and preactivation prior to a perturbation in an attempt to stiffen and stabilize the trunk. However, interpretation of the findings was complicated by the fact that LBP subjects generated lesser efforts, and it was not known whether this resulted from anatomical differences (e.g., muscle atrophy) or reduced motivation (e.g., pain avoidance).
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(1) Chronic lumbar (lower back) pain, which affects many Canadians, imposes a large economic burden. (2) Symptoms may occur in the vertebral facet joints of 15% to 40% of patients with lower back pain. (3) Medial branch radiofrequency neurotomy is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure that reduces pain by interrupting the nerve supply to painful facet joints. (4) Four systematic reviews of this procedure offer disparate conclusions. (5) One small well designed observational study has shown positive results, but no equally rigorous randomized controlled trial has been conducted.