title: Establishing the diagnosis of low back pain: patient selection for interventional pain medicine.
abstract: SUMMARY Low back pain is one of the most prominent healthcare problems but there is no gold standard for its diagnosis. Aspecific low back pain can be subdivided into radicular and mechanical pain. The diagnosis mainly relies on a combination of elements, such as medical history, physical examination, medical imaging and other possible additional tests. Once a working diagnosis has been established, confirmation of the causative structure and level is sought by means of diagnostic blocks. The use of the different diagnostic tests and blocks should be guided by the balance between the potential benefit (mainly in terms of improved treatment outcome, the possible burden for the patient and the chances of withholding potential effective treatment to patients) with false-negative test results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care & Multidisciplinary Pain Centre, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Genk, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Zundert
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Boxem
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vanelderen
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puylaert
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Vooght
authors.forename: Roel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mestrum
authors.forename: Rene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heylen
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vissers
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Kleef