Diagnosis and Treatment of Low Back Pain

In this volume, an orthopaedic surgeon presents practical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of low back pain syndromes. The initial chapters familiarize the reader with the epidemiology, anatomy, and physiology of low back pain, offer useful suggestions for conducting the physical examination - enabling the clinician to more precisely define the nature and location of the pain as well as identify any pain-eliciting or pain-intensifying activities or movements - and describe the use of radiographic and laboratory testing procedures in evaluating low back pain. Dr Kahanovitz then presents strategies for managing common lumbar spine disorders, including idiopathic low back pain, herniated lumbar disc, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and lumbar instability. He also gives advice on dealing with postoperative complications and the failed back syndrome. Practical guidance is given on selecting, ordering and interpreting the most appropriate and cost-effective diagnostic tests, encompassing both imaging studies and laboratory tests. Considered here is the type and the quality of information obtained from conventional radiograpy, myelograpy, computed tomograpy and magnetic resonanse imaging in different clinical settings.