Articles: low-back-pain.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The effects of medical evidence and pain intensity on medical student judgments of chronic pain patients.
This study examined symptom judgments made by medical students of hypothetical chronic low back pain patients. Eight vignettes were varied as to the pain intensity reported by the hypothetical patient (low vs. moderate vs. high vs. very high) and the availability of medical evidence supportive of the pain report (present vs. absent). Ninety-five subjects read vignettes and made judgments of patient emotional distress, pain intensity, and pain-related disability. ⋯ Judgments of pain and disability were higher for patients for whom medical evidence was present compared to those for whom it was absent. The results support and extend previous research on the effects of situational and patient variables on observer pain judgments. Future research should examine the influence of these biasing variables on the assessment and treatment of chronic pain patients.
-
Low back pain is the most expensive condition in industrialized countries. Approximately 65-80% of the population will be afflicted with low back pain at some point during their life. Low back pain has many causes and can originate from any of several pain-sensitive foci, among which are facet joints, sacroiliac joint, muscle and ligaments. ⋯ If used, their potential benefit for the individual case needs to be carefully weighed. They should be used to facilitate more aggressive conservative care and not as an isolated treatment. Certainly, if response to corticosteroids does not occur after the first injection, no further administration of corticosteroids is indicated.
-
The presence of psychological co-morbidity and difficulties in coping with chronic low-back pain are indications for the application of psychological therapy procedures. In the treatment of patients with chronic pain, the aim of therapy as well as the technique of the traditionally employed psychotherapeutic procedures need to be modified. What is of immediate importance is to promote an active pattern of coping with pain and discourage pain-related inactivity and reduce feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. ⋯ Relatives should be integrated in the planning and possibly also in carrying out of the treatment. Symptom-specific group therapy might motivate patients to undergo treatment and to change their habitual ways of life. A multimodal treatment approach incorporating orthopaedic, sports medicine, physiotherapeutic, psychological and socio-therapeutic procedures have proved to be more effective in the treatment of chronic pain than one employing monocausal treatment modalities.
-
Arch Phys Med Rehabil · Jun 1997
Case ReportsAcute low back pain secondary to retroperitoneal hemorrhage in an elderly man.
Acute low back pain is a common complaint heard in the emergency room and in a physiatrist's practice. It is important to rule out occult pathology in patients with an atypical presentation. In the case presented here, the patient was elderly, developed back pain without preceding trauma or lifting, had a history of easy bruisability, had a large ecchymosis, and had worsening back pain with bedrest. ⋯ He was diagnosed with acquired hemophilia secondary to factor VIII inhibitors. This has implications for physicians who treat patients with acute low back pain. They must be alert to potentially life-threatening causes of low back pain.
-
A questionnaire was given to 3,042 Japanese workers at a factory in 1992. It surveyed age, gender, weight, height, job classification, and work environment, as well as the perceived causes, onset age, and characteristics of low back pain. Family history of low back pain among first-degree relatives and perception of physical condition also were assessed. ⋯ The physical job demands show a clear association with the point and lifetime prevalence of low back pain, and improvements in work conditions may decrease low back symptoms among workers. It is likely that a family history of low back pain and physical and mental conditions of workers also should be considered in the management of low back pain.