Analgesic effects of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomised trials

Review written by Ben Cormack info

Key Points

  1. Treatments for acute back pain are currently lacking; no non-pharmacological treatments were recommended.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Low back pain is the most common musculoskeletal condition, affecting up to 80–90% of people at some point in their lives, and around 20% each year. Current guidelines recommend starting treatment with non-invasive, non-surgical options as the first line of care. This paper is an update of a previous paper first published by this group in 2008 looking at non-invasive treatments compared to placebo in randomized controlled trials.

The 2008 paper included 76 trials of 34 treatments and as the evidence base has grown substantially an updated paper is required for evidence-based treatment recommendations in healthcare.

The objective of this study was to provide an up-to-date evidence synthesis of the efficacy of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments compared with placebo or sham in adults with low back pain.

Low back pain is the most common musculoskeletal condition, affecting up to 80–90% of people at some point in their lives, and around 20% each year.
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Whilst all treatments will have elements of non-specific contributors to pain outcomes, such as the natural history of a condition and regression to the mean, the specific effects of some treatments appear to be sorely lacking.

METHODS

  • This was a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for people with non-specific low back pain.
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