Diagnostic Tests for Low Back Disorders

Chronic Low Back Pain: A Narrative Review of Recent International Guidelines for Diagnosis and Conservative Treatment

Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is a public and occupational health problem that is a major professional, economic and social burden. We aimed to provide a critical overview of current international recommendations regarding the management of non-specific cLBP. We conducted a narrative review of international guidelines for the diagnosis and conservative treatment of people with non-specific cLBP. Our literature search yielded five reviews of guidelines published between 2018 and 2021. In these five reviews, we identified eight international guidelines that fulfilled our selection criteria. We added the 2021 French guidelines into our analysis. Regarding diagnosis, most international guidelines recommend searching for so-called yellow, blue and black flags, in order to stratify the risk of chronicity and/or persistent disability. The relevance of clinical examination and imaging are under debate. Regarding management, most international guidelines recommend non-pharmacological treatments, including exercise therapy, physical activity, physiotherapy and education; however, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, in selected cases, is the core treatment recommended for people with non-specific cLBP. Oral, topical or injected pharmacological treatments are under debate, and may be offered to selected and well-phenotyped patients. The diagnosis of people with cLBP may lack precision. All guidelines recommend multimodal management. In clinical practice, the management of individuals with non-specific cLBP should combine non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatments. Future research should focus on improving tailorization.

Best Practices for Chiropractic Management of Adult Patients With Mechanical Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline for Chiropractors in the United States

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this paper was to update the previously published 2016 best-practice recommendations for chiropractic management of adults with mechanical low back pain (LBP) in the United States.

METHODS

Two experienced health librarians conducted the literature searches for clinical practice guidelines and other relevant literature, and the investigators performed quality assessment of included studies. PubMed was searched from March 2015 to September 2021. A steering committee of 10 experts in chiropractic research, education, and practice used the most current relevant guidelines and publications to update care recommendations. A panel of 69 experts used a modified Delphi process to rate the recommendations.

RESULTS

The literature search yielded 14 clinical practice guidelines, 10 systematic reviews, and 5 randomized controlled trials (all high quality). Sixty-nine members of the panel rated 38 recommendations. All but 1 statement achieved consensus in the first round, and the final statement reached consensus in the second round. Recommendations covered the clinical encounter from history, physical examination, and diagnostic considerations through informed consent, co-management, and treatment considerations for patients with mechanical LBP.

CONCLUSION

This paper updates a previously published best-practice document for chiropractic management of adults with mechanical LBP.

More than one third of clinical practice guidelines on low back pain overlap in AGREE II appraisals. Research wasted?

Background

Systematic reviews can apply the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation (AGREE) II tool to critically appraise clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for treating low back pain (LBP); however, when appraisals differ in CPG quality rating, stakeholders, clinicians, and policy-makers will find it difficult to discern a unique judgement of CPG quality. We wanted to determine the proportion of overlapping CPGs for LBP in appraisals that applied AGREE II. We also compared inter-rater reliability and variability across appraisals.

Methods

For this meta-epidemiological study we searched six databases for appraisals of CPGs for LBP. The general characteristics of the appraisals were collected; the unit of analysis was the CPG evaluated in each appraisal. The inter-rater reliability and the variability of AGREE II domain scores for overall assessment were measured using the intraclass correlation coefficient and descriptive statistics.

Results

Overall, 43 CPGs out of 106 (40.6%) overlapped in seventeen appraisals. Half of the appraisals (53%) reported a protocol registration. Reporting of AGREE II assessment was heterogeneous and generally of poor quality: overall assessment 1 (overall CPG quality) was rated in 11 appraisals (64.7%) and overall assessment 2 (recommendation for use) in four (23.5%). Inter-rater reliability was substantial/perfect in 78.3% of overlapping CPGs. The domains with most variability were Domain 6 (mean interquartile range [IQR] 38.6), Domain 5 (mean IQR 28.9), and Domain 2 (mean IQR 27.7).

Conclusions

More than one third of CPGs for LBP have been re-appraised in the last six years with CPGs quality confirmed in most assessments. Our findings suggest that before conducting a new appraisal, researchers should check systematic review registers for existing appraisals. Clinicians need to rely on updated CPGs of high quality and confirmed by perfect agreement in multiple appraisals.

Trial Registration

Protocol Registration OSF: https://osf.io/rz7nh/

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12874-022-01621-w.

Impacts of a Re-designed Care Path for Back Pain Directing Patients to Physiotherapists: A Pre-Post Intervention Study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate impact of directing patients with back pain for first visit to a physiotherapist on sick leaves, healthcare utilization, and patient satisfaction.

METHODS

Pre-post intervention study of 70,138 patients treated in Poland for back pain: 27,034 before the care pathway redesign and 43,104 after.

RESULTS

After the redesign, all per-patient measures (mean ± SD) significantly decreased over the 12-month follow-up: sick leaves number from 0.32 ± 0.87 to 0.29 ± 0.86, sick leaves days from 2.78 ± 11.56 to 2.56 ± 11.25, doctors' visits from 2.02 ± 1.70 to 1.51 ± 1.63, diagnostic imaging services from 0.63 ± 0.79 to 0.43 ± 0.71 and rehabilitation services from 7.55 ± 14.90 to 4.70 ± 12.61.The Net Promoter Score was higher for physiotherapist (83), than for orthopedists (59), primary care (74), or neurologists (67).

CONCLUSIONS

Involving physiotherapists early in the back pain care may result in benefits for patients and healthcare organizations.

Invasive Treatments for Low Back Disorders

OBJECTIVE

This abbreviated version of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine's Low Back Disorders guideline reviews the evidence and recommendations developed for invasive treatments used to manage low back disorders.

METHODS

Comprehensive systematic literature reviews were accomplished with article abstraction, critiquing, grading, evidence table compilation, and guideline finalization by a multidisciplinary expert panel and extensive peer-review to develop evidence-based guidance. Consensus recommendations were formulated when evidence was lacking and often relied on analogy to other disorders for which evidence exists. A total of 47 high-quality and 321 moderate-quality trials were identified for invasive management of low back disorders.

RESULTS

Guidance has been developed for the invasive management of acute, subacute, and chronic low back disorders and rehabilitation. This includes 49 specific recommendations.

CONCLUSION

Quality evidence should guide invasive treatment for all phases of managing low back disorders.

Sex and gender considerations in low back pain clinical practice guidelines: a scoping review

Objective

The purpose of this scoping review is to determine if and how sex and gender have been incorporated into low back pain (LBP) clinical practice guidelines (CPG), and if sex and gender terms have been used properly.

Methods

CPGs were searched on MEDLINE, Embase, NICE, TRIP and PEDro from 2010 to 2020. The inclusion criteria were English language, CGPs within physiotherapy scope of practice and for adult population with LBP of any type or duration. Three pairs of independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts and full texts. Guidelines were searched for sex/gender-related terms and recommendations were extracted. The AGREE II (Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II) was used to evaluate the quality of the CPGs.

Results

Thirty-six CPGs were included, of which 15 were test-positive for sex or gender terms. Only 33% (n=5) of CPGs incorporated sex or gender into diagnostic or management recommendations. Sixty percent of guidelines (n=9) only referenced sex or gender in relation to epidemiology, risk factors or prognostic data, and made no specific recommendations. Overall, there was no observable relationship between guideline quality and likeliness of integrating sex or gender terms. The majority of guidelines used sex and gender terms interchangeably, and no guidelines defined sex or gender.

Conclusion

CPGs did not consistently consider sex and gender differences in assessment, diagnosis or treatment of LBP. When it was considered, sex and gender terms were used interchangeably, and considerations were primarily regarding pregnancy. Researchers should consider the importance of including sex-based and/or gender-based recommendations into future LBP CPGs.