title: Imaging in mechanical back pain: Anything new?
abstract: Low back pain is common and relates to a variety of overlapping pathologies. Within the last few decades, almost every medical imaging modality has been applied in the evaluation of low back pain. Imaging of the spine has a high priority in the assessment of patients with low back pain, who seem to expect such procedures to be undertaken. However, the majority of conventional imaging techniques do not have adequate precision to identify the primary source of pain. Not only can this be frustrating to both clinicians and patients, but importantly, inadequate correlation between imaging findings and symptoms hampers the ability of clinicians to devise a specific treatment plan for the patient. Therefore, there is mounting interest in new imaging techniques of the lumbar spine that may increase the clinical correlation in low back pain. In this review, we will discuss the value and limitations of various lumbar spine imaging techniques with focus on new emerging technologies.
authors.affiliation: The Parker Institute, Department of Rheumatology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg, Frederiksberg, Denmark. Electronic address: dr.bjarke@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bjarke Brandt
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg, Frederiksberg, Nordre Fasanvej 57, DK-2000 F, Denmark.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Carrino
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg, Frederiksberg, Nordre Fasanvej 57, DK-2000 F, Denmark.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg, Frederiksberg, Nordre Fasanvej 57, DK-2000 F, Denmark.
authors.forename: Zoreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rasti
authors.affiliation: The Parker Institute, Department of Rheumatology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg, Frederiksberg, Denmark; Department of Radiology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Bispebjerg, Frederiksberg, Nordre Fasanvej 57, DK-2000 F, Denmark. Electronic address: mikael.boesen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boesen
mesh_terms: D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male
keywords: Computed tomography; Degenerative disc disease; Diagnostic; Imaging; Low back pain; Lumbar spine; Magnetic resonance imaging; Radiography; Weight-bearing MRI