Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Back-pain Causes.
Unfortunately, according to [53], the available medical informa-
tion only provides partial success in diagnosis and treatment of back pain with only
15% of the patients obtaining an accurate diagnosis of their problem. This partial
success is due to the complexity of the back, where its main causes could result from
various reasons, as well as several other external factors.
Having said that, evidence from the literature about the biomechanics of back pain,
suggests that in essence the causes of back pain remain unclear. However, studies in
the field [55] have shown that the most common causes of back pain can be divided in
three major categories, namely
Musculoskeletal, Systemic
, and
Visceral
. Furthermore,
analysis of these studies has shown that 98% of the cases are musculoskeletal in etiol-
ogy, with the remaining 2% being due to systemic conditions, referred visceral pain,
or psychological and social factors. Specifically, “most musculoskeletal injuries lead-
ing to LBP are likely attributable to sprained paraspinous tendons or muscle spasm,
but there are no objective tests to confirm these diagnoses [55]. A more detailed
analysis of the aforementioned factors that affect the development of the disease, as
well as a more detailed categorization of back pain causes, could be found in [28] and
[12] respectively. Accordingly, although the real causes of back pain remain unclear,
[1] suggest that the joints and the spinal discs are the leading sources of back pain
with pain originating from the joints accounting for some 10-15% of patients, and
pain coming from spinal discs to cause more than 40% of the cases.
However, considering the fact that back pain is really difficult to be accurately di-
agnosed due to the multi-factorial nature of the disease, the logical attitude that each
individual should adopt towards the avoidance of developing such a disorder, is trying
to prevent it. In overall though, whatever the underlying cause is, specific procedures
need to be followed in order for back pain to be thoroughly understood, diagnosed,
and treated, as it is going to be discussed in more detail in the following section.
Based on these procedures, ways that this phenomenon and chronic conditions in
general, could be more effectively managed will be identified.
In spite of what has been discussed so far however, the assessment of this medical
complaint remains notoriously difficult. Despite the huge amount of money spent and
resources lost, it is estimated that only a small percent of success in treating back pain
exists, showing in that way not only the considerable negative impact on the health
budgets and national economies of countries, but also the importance and need of
identifying the best and most effective ways to combat this phenomenon specifically,
and long term conditions in general, which affect a huge percentage of the population.
Improving healthcare and services for people also suffering from long term conditions
therefore will definitely have a beneficial impact on care, waiting lists, demand, work-
force, hospital admissions, costs, and prescribing [8].
1.2 Current Back-Pain Assessment Practices
One of the first steps that is traditionally undertaken by patients in a back pain clinic
is the completion of a medical questionnaire, which is intended to identify the loca-
tion and type of pain being experienced, normally in paper format. In most cases, the
only visual aid to assist medical staff with their assessment is “pain drawings.” Tradi-
tional pain drawings are 2-D figures of the human body on which the patient is asked
to mark the type and distribution of the pain being suffered. Notwithstanding their
advantages, 2-D pain drawings have their limitations, as they do not capture the 3-D
Search WWH ::
Custom Search