Articles: low-back-pain.
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Low-back pain (LBP) is a common reason for consulting a general practitioner, and advice on daily activities is an important part of the primary care management of low-back pain. ⋯ For people with acute LBP, advice to rest in bed is less effective than advice to stay active. For patients with sciatica, there is little or no difference between advice to rest in bed and advice to stay active. There is little or no difference in the effect of bed rest compared to exercises or physiotherapy, or seven days of bed rest compared with two to three.
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A systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies. ⋯ Patients have explicit expectations on diagnosis, instructions, and interpersonal management. New strategies need to be developed in order to meet patients' expectations better. Practice guidelines should pay more attention to the best way of discussing the causes and diagnosis with the patient and should involve them in the decision-making process.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A randomized clinical trial of manipulative therapy and interferential therapy for acute low back pain.
A multicenter assessor-blinded randomized clinical trial was conducted. ⋯ For acute low back pain, there was no difference between the effects of a combined manipulative therapy and interferential therapy package and either manipulative therapy or interferential therapy alone.
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Lumbar facet (zygapophysial) joints have been implicated as the source of chronic pain in 15% to 45% of patients with chronic low back pain. Diagnosis may be confounded by false-positive results with a single diagnostic block and administration of anxiolytics and narcotics prior to or during the diagnostic facet joint blocks. ⋯ The administration of sedation with midazolam or fentanyl is a confounding factor in the diagnosis of lumbar facet joint pain in patients with chronic low back pain. However, this study suggests that if strict criteria including pain relief and ability to perform prior painful movements is used as the standard for evaluating the effect of controlled local anesthetic blocks, the diagnostic validity of lumbar facet joint nerve blocks may be preserved.
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Sex differences in clinical and experimental pain responses have been widely reported; however, few studies have examined sex differences in outcomes from interventional pain treatment and the predictors thereof. The aims of this study were to examine sex differences in (1) the acute pain produced by epidural steroid injections (ESIs), (2) clinical improvements in pain and pain-related psychological distress and disability after ESIs, and (3) predictors of the clinical response to ESIs. A total of 57 patients (37 menopausal women and 20 men), seen in the pain clinic of a regional medical center for ESI therapy, participated. Patients rated the painfulness of the ESI procedure itself. Also, clinical pain, depression, and disability were assessed before treatment and at 2 weeks and 2 months after the ESIs. Participants also were queried about their expectations of successful pain relief, coping strategies, and pain-related anxiety, which were examined as predictors of treatment outcome. Men reported significantly greater pain intensity and unpleasantness than women for the first injection only. All groups showed significant reductions in clinical pain, depression, and disability at 2 weeks compared to baseline, but minimal change occurred between 2 weeks and 2 months past baseline. No sex differences in the magnitude of treatment response emerged; however, specific dimensions of pain coping were associated with treatment responses in a sex-dependent manner. These findings suggest that the determinants of ESI pain and treatment outcome might differ across sex. ⋯ Sex-related influences on pain responses have been widely reported, but few studies have explored sex-dependent predictors of treatment response. These findings indicate that pain coping was differentially associated with outcomes after ESI in women versus men.