The World Health Organisation have recently released guidance (April, 2019) on the management of low back pain (LBP), including recommendations from 6 recent international LBP guidelines.
This guidance includes the key messages:
- Adopt a stratified approach to LBP based on the patients previous response to treatment or risk prediction tools
- Provide advice, education and reassurance as first line treatments
- Provide physical therapies, psychological therapies, or certain alternative therapies as a second line treatments
- Multi-disciplinary pain management should be provided as a third line treatment for patients with chronic low back pain
- Care of low back pain without medication is preferred, NSAIDs (minimum dose for shortest time) are first line pharmacological interventions
- Opioid medication should be avoided where possible
- Do not provide injectable steroids or surgery for chronic non-specific low back pain
Read the full guidance here