title: Low back pain: cost-effective diagnosis and treatment.
abstract: This systematic approach to low back pain limits the use of imaging studies and surgery. The natural history of this condition and its resolution show that such modalities are best restricted to a minority of patients.
authors.affiliation: Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae