Initial assessment of back pain: an overview.
In any illness, the severity of symptoms and their effect on lifestyle are very important to the patient. Pain in the back may indicate simple backache which most people have at some time, a number of serious spinal diseases or low back disability. It is important to establish to which category a patient belongs, and this article will outline some of the methods by which this can be achieved.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London.
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D001416:Back Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D010808:Physical Examination