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Examination of Back Pain

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Spine Surgery Basics

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Abstract

Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal disorder affecting 60–80 % of people at some point in their lives. In the USA it is the most common cause of job-related disability, a leading cause of missed work. Low back pain is classified as acute (less than 4 weeks), subacute (4–12 weeks), or chronic (greater than 12 weeks).

Understanding the causes of low back pain, performing a thorough history and physical examination, and looking for “red flags” for potentially serious conditions allow health-care providers to accurately classify and treat most causes of back pain.

The majority of lower back pain is nonspecific and arises from mechanical soft tissue sprain or strain and can be treated within a few weeks of onset with conservative management. In addition to spinal or mechanical causes, lower back pain can arise from nonmechanical etiologies such as failed back syndrome, visceral pain, and multitude of other non-spinal causes. A comprehensive listing of the various etiologies of lumbosacral pain is included for the clinician’s consideration.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 909 Walnut Street 2nd floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Jennifer Malone, Ravi Madineni, Angud Mehdi & Ashwini Sharan

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Cooper University Hospital, 1 Cooper Plz, # 123, Camden, NJ, 08103, USA

    Niti Cooper

Authors
  1. Jennifer Malone
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  2. Ravi Madineni
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  3. Niti Cooper
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  4. Angud Mehdi
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  5. Ashwini Sharan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashwini Sharan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado, Denver Dept. Orthopaedics, Aurora, Colorado, USA

    Vikas V. Patel

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Neurosciences Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Alpesh Patel

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    James S. Harrop

  4. University of Colorado, Denver Dept. Orthopaedics, Aurora, Colorado, USA

    Evalina Burger

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Malone, J., Madineni, R., Cooper, N., Mehdi, A., Sharan, A. (2014). Examination of Back Pain. In: Patel, V., Patel, A., Harrop, J., Burger, E. (eds) Spine Surgery Basics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34126-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34126-7_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-34125-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-34126-7

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