Back pain: Lancet review calls for clinical assessment over routine scans

A recent review of international clinical practice guidelines published in The Lancet Rheumatology has called for a shift in the management of non-specific low back pain towards clinical assessment, patient education, physical activity, and exercise, while discouraging routine imaging when there is no suspicion of serious disease.

The approach, reflected in guidelines issued between 1994 and 2026, emphasizes assessing symptoms and identifying warning signs before deciding on investigations or treatment, reflecting a growing emphasis on restoring function and avoiding unnecessary investigations and interventions. Specialists in Bengaluru emphasized that most cases of non-specific low back pain do not indicate a serious structural problem and can be managed without extensive investigations or invasive procedures, focusing instead on understanding symptoms, reassuring patients, maintaining normal activities, prescribing appropriate exercises and physiotherapy, and using medication judiciously.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Hindu Health's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.