NON-OPERATIVE TREATMENT OF THE LUMBAR SPINE

Bridging the gap between the medical literature and the practice of lumbar spine medicine, this user-friendly, accessible text describes the causes of lower back pain and associated "sciatic" pathologies and how these problems can be successfully treated without surgery. Beginning with a review of the anatomy of the lumbar spine and the most common causes of lower back pain, diagnostic and management strategies for a variety of conditions are discussed, including discogenic pain, facet joint pain, sacroiliac joint pain, spondylolisthesis, lumbar radiculopathy, piriformis syndrome, spinal stenosis, and compression fractures.
Chapters on epidural steroid injections, exercises for lower back pain and alternative treatments follow, as well as when it is appropriate to recommend surgery. The second section of the book is devoted to numerous clinical scenarios in which evidence based medicine is applied to actual clinical cases. Non-Operative Treatment of the Lumbar Spine will be a valuable reference for orthopedists, rheumatologists, physiatrists, pain management specialists, neurologists, and anyone treating patients with lower back pain.

Author
Grant Cooper, MD, Princeton Spine and Joint Center, Princeton, NJ, USA

Contents
1. Clinical Anatomy of the Lumbosacral Spine
2. Lower Back Pain: An Overview of the Most Common Causes
3. Treatment of Acute Lower Back Pain
4. When Are Imaging Studies Indicated and What Do They Tell Us?
5. Discogenic Lower Back Pain
6. Facet Joint Arthropathy
7. Sacroiliac Joint Pain
8. Spondylolisthesis
9. Spondylolysis
10. Lumbosacral Radiculopathy
11. Piriformis Syndrome
12. Spinal Stenosis
13. Compression Fractures
14. Epidural Steroid Injections: Dispelling Common Myths
15. Red Flag Signs and Symptoms
16. Exercises for Lower Back Pain
17. The Mind-Body Connection: Is Stress Important?
18. Alternative Treatments
19. Clinical Case #1: James
20. Clinical Case #2: Ruth
21. Clinical Case #3: Steve
22. Clinical Case #4: Carol
23. Clinical Case #5: Tania
24. Clinical Case #6: Frank
25. Clinical Case #7: Natasha
26. Clinical Case #8: Jack
27. Clinical Case #9: Esther
28. Clinical Case #10: Rebecca
29. Clinical Case #11: Hector