Description
- Chronic low back pain (LBP) defined as persistent or fluctuating musculoskeletal pain of lower back and lumbar spine lasting >3 months
Incidence/prevalence
- 10.2% in United States in 2006
- 13th most common diagnosis in family physician visits
Possible risk factors
- psychosocial factors (not mechanical factors) may be associated with LBP in children
- overweight/obesity
- cigarette smoking
Factors not associated with increased risk
- epidural anesthesia
- occupational factors (such as manual handling or patient-assisting, lifting, pushing, pulling)
- insufficient evidence to support
- bending or twisting
- standing or walking
Associated conditions
- impaired health-related quality of life in children
- trochanteric bursitis
- sleep disturbances
Causes
- cauda equina syndrome
- specific mechanical causes
- low back DJD
- herniated disk
- spinal stenosis
- vertebral fracture
- spondylolysis
- spondylolisthesis
- scoliosis
- nonmechanical spinal conditions
- cancer
- infection (such as osteomyelitis, paraspinous abscess)
- inflammatory arthritis ( such as ankylosing spondylitis)
- Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis
- Paget disease
- Scheuermann disease (osteochondrosis)
- visceral disease (nonspinal disease with referred pain)
- pelvic organ disease
- renal disease
- aortic aneurysm
- shingles
- gastrointestinal disease
- in children, chronic LBP often does not have definitive diagnosis
