Back pain - Less than 60 minute e-learning events

Changes/additions to materials:

NICE guidance on low back pain

Since these materials were written, NICE has issued a clinical guideline on the early management of persistent or recurrent low back pain. The guideline includes recommendations for assessment and imaging, provision of information and education to patients, drug and non-drug treatment options, and referral criteria for surgery. Please see MeReC Stop Press No. 365 for a summary of the guidance and a recent study, which supports the guidance with regard to acupuncture as an option for first-line treatment.

On this page you will find a series of workshops using a multimedia presentation of PowerPoint slides with audio commentary by the NPC team. You will need speakers and a sound card in your computer.

The outline of each of the short presentations is given below. Simply click on one of the underlined links and then click on the play icon to begin. You can jump forwards to skip a slide or backwards to repeat a slide by clicking the relevant slide on the left hand side of the console.

Part 1 - Introduction and background (5min 12secs)

Acute vs chronic back pain
Prevalence
Consequences

Part 2 - Aetiology & diagnostic issues (9min 11secs)

Aetiology
Anatomy
MRI vs Plain X-ray
Red flags and serious pathology
Acute vs Chronic
Screening

Part 3 - Management of acute low back pain (6min 25secs)

Educational advice
Cochrane reviews
Drug therapy
Non-drug treatments

Part 4 - Management of chronic low back pain (10min 15secs)

Analgesics
Other drug therapy
Non-drug treatments
Guidelines
Surgical Intervention
Summary of treatment recommendations