Usual Care Often Not Consistent With Clinical Guidelines For Low Back Pain
Australian general practitioners often treat patients with low back pain in a manner that does not appear to match the care endorsed by international clinical guidelines, according to a report in the February 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Low back pain is estimated to be the seventh most common reason for a general practitioner visit in Australia and the fifth most common in the United States, according to background information in the article. An overwhelming body of literature on the management of low back pain-more than 1, 200 published trials and systematic reviews-makes practice guidelines an efficient way for clinicians to base their care on the best evidence.
Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery And Spinal Cord Stimulation Show Promise In Alleviating Back Pain
Results from the first prospective study of minimally invasive facet arthrodesis and long-term data on spinal cord stimulation demonstrate the viability of these options to achieve pain relief in patients with various back pain conditions. The studies were presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine's 26th Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX. In the first study, Daniel Bennett, MD, DABPM, from Integrative Treatment Centers in Denver, Colorado performed the minimally invasive facet arthrodesis procedure on 102 spinal joints in patients with recurrent facet-mediated (joint) low back pain. The patients had previously responded to thermal radiofrequency (a procedure using heat which cuts off the supply of nerves near the site of the back pain) but their symptoms recurred after an average of 10 months.
SOMA 250 MG Shown To Significantly Improve Functionality And Reduce Disability In Patients With Low Back Pain In Three Days
A recent analysis of two pivotal clinical trials in patients with acute low back pain (ALBP) who were treated with SOMA® (carisoprodol) 250 mg showed significantly improved functionality and reduced disability after three days of treatment, as measured by the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ). This analysis is being presented this week at the 26th annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine in San Antonio, TX. In addition, a recent review of published literature indicates that SOMA 250 mg is the only skeletal muscle relaxant proven to significantly improve functionality in patients with acute low back pain as measured by the RMDQ.
In Chronic Pain Patients, Higher Opioid Dose Linked To Overdose Risk
More and more Americans with chronic pain not caused by cancer are taking medically prescribed opioids like Oxycontin ( oxycodone ) and Vicodin (hydrocodone). The January 19 Annals of Internal Medicine features the first study to explore the risk of overdose in patients prescribed opioids for chronic noncancer pain in general health care. The study links risk of fatal and nonfatal opioid overdose to prescription use - strongly associating the risk with the prescribed dose. A team led by Michael Von Korff, ScD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute, studied nearly 10, 000 patients who received multiple opioid prescriptions for common chronic pain conditions like back pain and osteoarthritis.
Cymbalta R Significantly Reduced Chronic Low Back Pain In New Study
In a new study, 60 mg of Cymbalta(R) (duloxetine HCl) taken once daily significantly reduced chronic low back pain, as measured by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) average pain rating, compared with placebo.(1) The data were presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) in San Antonio, Texas. A total of 401 patients participated in the 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, designed to assess the efficacy of duloxetine 60 mg once daily on the reduction of pain severity in patients with chronic low back pain. In the study, duloxetine-treated patients experienced a statistically significantly greater improvement on BPI average pain scale compared with placebo in chronic low back pain (p<0.
Smooth And Integrated Movement Patterns Can Help Individuals With Back Pain
Many people with back pain do not know what is causing it and they do not receive effective treatment, but learning to move in a more integrated way makes a big difference, reveals research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. "People with long-term back pain often protect themselves by unconsciously limiting their movements, " says physiotherapist Christina SchГ n-Ohlsson. "Such inefficient movement patterns gradually become habituated even though the original injury or strain is no longer present." The answer to the problem is sensory motor learning, where patients are guided to find out how they are moving and how they can free themselves from self-imposed limitations.
Heavy Backpacks Affect Children's Spines
Heavy backpacks place a measurable strain on the spines of children, with heavier loads causing greater spinal strain and increased back pain, reports a study in the January 1 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans show compression of the spinal discs and spinal curvature caused by typical school backpack loads in children, according to Dr. Timothy Neuschwander of University of California, San Diego, and colleagues.
Study Reveals Predictors Of Long-term Opioid Use For Back Pain
Despite limited evidence of long-term success in using opioid pain medications for chronic low back pain, opioid prescribing has increased in recent years for back pain and other non-cancer pain indications. The implications are controversial as published studies provide little evidence indicating which patients will benefit from long-term opioid treatment. New research, published in The Journal of Pain, identifies predictors of long-term opioid use among patients with chronic back pain caused by lumbar spine conditions. Participants were recruited from 13 spine specialty centers in 11 states and totaled 2, 110. Forty-two percent reported using opioids for pain from their spine condition and a third said they take opioids every day.
Guideline: Widely Used Device For Pain Therapy Not Recommended For Chronic Low Back Pain
A new guideline issued by the American Academy of Neurology finds that transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS), a widely used pain therapy involving a portable device, is not recommended to treat chronic low-back pain pain that has persisted for three months or longer because research shows it is not effective. The guideline is published in the December 30, 2009, online issue of Neurology® , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The guideline determined that TENS can be effective in treating diabetic nerve pain, also called diabetic neuropathy, but more and better research is needed to compare TENS to other treatments for this type of pain.
How To Prevent Pain In The Neck, Back And Shoulders This Holiday Season
To most of us the holiday season is all about tradition, fun, and family, but if we're not careful, the holidays can also be a pain in the neck-literally-says the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Typical holiday activities, such as shopping "till you drop, " lifting heavy boxes and presents, and countless hours of cooking and baking, can cause muscles to work harder than usual, many times resulting in neck, shoulder, and back pain. This holiday season APTA recommends taking precautions-from distributing the weight of shopping bags equally on both sides of your body to lifting boxes carefully-in order to keeps aches and injuries at bay.