Acute low back pain is a common health problem affecting between 50-90% of people over the course of a lifetime with less than 2% of cases representing potentially serious conditions requiring surgical or medical intervention. Red flags suggesting additional testing include such things as a history of significant trauma, cauda equina syndrome, symptoms suggestive of tumour of infection (fever, weight loss, history of cancer), steroid use, etc. However, the majority of acute low back pain episodes are benign, self-limited cases that do not warrant any imaging studies. Unnecessary imaging can be harmful due to the potential adverse health effects associated with radiation exposure and due to attribution of symptoms to unrelated incidental findings leading to prolonged disability.

Conditions: Acute Low Back Pain

Diagnostic Tests: X-Rays, Radiographs