[Back pain: patients versus research]

Abstract

In 2008, approximately 1,559,000 Dutch patients consulted their GP because of back pain. One out of 20 back pain patients is ultimately referred to a specialist, most often to a neurologist. A smaller number (also) go to a neurosurgeon or orthopaedist. Once referred, patients often receive treatments such as pain killers or discectomy. Scientific evidence in systematic reviews is scarce for the treatments we investigated because of small patient groups and a lack of randomised research. We made an infographic to show the numbers of patients with back pain who visit their GP or a specialist.