title: Back pain: osteoarthritis.
abstract: Back pain is one of the chief complaints of the elderly. It may be either a chronic deep skeletal muscular pain or an acute circumscribed pain arising from nerve-root irritation. The main causes of back pain in older people are: 1) degenerative changes (spondylosis, osteoarthritis, ankylosing hyperostosis); 2) malignancy (multiple myeloma, metastases from carcinoma or lymphoma); and 3) metabolic disorders (osteoporosis, osteomalacia, chondrocalcinosis, Paget's disease). Mechanisms and variations are discussed in detail.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001416:Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000175:diagnosis; D010001:Osteitis Deformans / Q000175:diagnosis; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010007:Osteochondritis / Q000175:diagnosis; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D012544:Scheuermann Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000175:diagnosis