“Low back pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting about 570 million people globally. About 39% of the adult population will have low back pain in any given year. Low back pain is costly; in the United States, health care spending on low back pain was $134.5 billion annually between 1996 and 2016 and is increasing. Clinical guidelines recommend triage to identify symptoms that require diagnostic investigation (prevalence of serious pathology < 1% in primary care). Nonspecific low back pain, where no specific pathoanatomical cause can be identified, is the most common type of low back pain. Management focuses on reducing pain and its consequences through education and reassurance, nonpharmacological treatments (e.g., heat, relative rest, staying active), analgesic medicines (e.g., nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and timely review.
Existing literature suggests that the clinical course of an episode of low back pain is favourable. However, recurrence is common (about 69% of patients will experience recurrence within 12 months) and pain persists for many patients. Several studies have shown that acute low back pain is not always associated with a favourable outcome, including 2 systematic reviews that showed that, although many patients recover within the first month, low levels of pain and disability often persist.”
Read more on “The clinical course of acute, subacute and persistent low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis” via CMAJ.
Family Medicine Residency Site: Abbotsford-Mission 