Chronic Low Back Pain and Psychosocial Issues
Psychosocial factors are at least as important as biomedical factors in the onset, maintenance, and treatment of chronic low back pain. This article reviews some of the common psychosocial factors…
Interventions for Low Back Pain: Conclusions
The interventional procedures available to help diagnose and treat low back pain are numerous and expanding. With a growing population that is living longer, the incidence of low back pain…
Electrodiagnostics for Low Back Pain
Low back pain with radiating pain to the hip, buttock, or limb is the most common reason for electrodiagnostics referral. Electrodiagnostics is used to assess for lumbosacral radiculopathy potentially underlying…
Functional Anatomy and Pathophysiology of Axial Low Back Pain: Disc, Posterior Elements, Sacroiliac Joint, and Associated Pain Generators
Careful consideration of functional lumbosacral anatomy reveals the capacity for pain generation in the disc, zygapophysial joint, sacroiliac joint, and surrounding ligaments. However, the methods used to definitively implicate a…
Myofascial Low Back Pain: A Review
Myofascial pain syndrome is a common nonarticular local musculoskeletal pain syndrome caused by myofascial trigger points located at muscle, fascia, or tendinous insertions, affecting up to 95% of people with…
Epidemiology of Spine Care: The Back Pain Dilemma
In this article, the epidemiology of back pain and the use of a variety of treatments for back pain in the United States are reviewed. The dilemma faced by medical…
Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy for Radiculopathy
Despite its classic clinical presentation, and even when confirmed by compatible imaging findings of a herniated disc, the radiculopathy diagnosis provides only limited assistance for making decisions about treatment. The…
Epidural Steroid Injections for Cervical Radiculopathy
Epidural steroid injection (ESI) has been used to treat cervical radiculopathy for several decades. Generally, available studies demonstrate favorable results, although definitive evidence of efficacy is lacking. ESIs are not…
Surgical Treatment and Outcomes of Cervical Radiculopathy
Cervical radiculopathy, when resistant to conservative treatment, can require surgical treatment. There are numerous surgical treatment options available, such as posterior cervical foraminotomy, anterior cervical foraminotomy, anterior cervical diskectomy and…
The Efficacy of Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injections: Transforaminal, Interlaminar, and Caudal Approaches
Conservative management of low back pain includes the use of lumbar epidural steroid injections, which have become increasingly more popular in the last 20 years. The body of literature regarding…
