Spinal Cancer: Guidelines For Diagnosis Unsupported In Patients With Lower Back Pain

A new systematic review published in The Cochrane Library has raised doubts as to the effectiveness of "red flag" indicators at both identifying and excluding cancer in patients with lower back pain. The authors of the review concluded that most individual red flags were poor at diagnosing spinal malignancies and call for further studies focused on combinations of red flags. Lower back pain is a common complaint, often with no obvious cause. In around 1-5% of patients with lower back pain, the condition results from a more serious underlying problem, such as a tumour... via Health News from Medical News Today Read More Here..