Open AccessLow back pain: Differential diagnosis, prognosis and treatment
Author(s) -
V. Lalosevic,
Z. Poleksic,
Z. Blagojević,
Simonida Lj. Tomić,
S. Milickovic
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
acta chirurgica iugoslavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2406-0887
pISSN - 0354-950X
DOI - 10.2298/aci0604049l
Subject(s) - medicine , visual analogue scale , orthopedic surgery , surgery , back pain , oswestry disability index , low back pain , physical therapy , alternative medicine , pathology
From January 2002 to February 2003, 137 patients complaining of low back pain were treated at the Institute for Orthopedic Surgery "Banjica", Belgrade, Serbia. There were 89 male and 48 female patients aged 13 to 77, mean age 42.2. Their condition was diagnosed through use of radiography, CT, MRI, EMNG, standard battery of neurological tests, and laboratory analyses (urine and blood analysis). Surgical treatment was performed on 39 patients; all other patients received some form of non-surgical care (physical therapy, medication or corset). Treatment efficacy was evaluated by use of the visual analog scales (VAS) and the Oswestry index, before and after treatment. The use Wilcoxon's pair test revealed statistically significant difference between before and after treatment data on VAS and Oswestry index for all patients.