ABSTRACT
U RCGP guidelines on managing back pain include the following precepts. (True/False) a ‘Let pain be your guide’ when deciding how much exercise is appropriate, b Use analgesics on demand.
0 Traction can be recommended for a patient with back pain of mechanical origin and onset 3 days previously. (True/False) BMJ. 309:1602 (summary of report)
0 What facilities around the house may make life easier for someone who suf fers from chronic back pain? (3 points) BMJ. 306: 901-8
0 What criteria would you use to select patients with lumbago who might suit ably be referred for a programme of fitness training? (4 or more points) BMJ. 310:151-4 (research report)
0 Patients with low back pain of mechanical origin would be best served if their GPs provided a service of spinal manipulation. Do you agree with this? State reasons for your point of view. (3 or more points) BMJ. 311:349-51 (original research)
0 Patients with a history of several consultations for back pain, but who no longer consult their GPs with this problem, are likely to be free of it. (True/ False) BMJ. 316:356-9 (research report)
10 In an observer-blind trial of the treatment of chronic backstrain and neckstrain we should expect the following: a the drop-out rate to be higher with medicinal treatment and self-treatment
11 Back pain in otherwise healthy physically active men may be due to ischae mia. Do you believe this? State reasons for your point of view. (2points) BMJ. 306:1267-8
12 What useful information on management of back pain has yet to be gained from research that could best be conducted in general practice? (3 or more points) BMJ. 312:485-9 (review article)
The following signs suggest malingering or hypochondriacal pain: • over-reaction • closing the eyes during the examination • pain on rotation of the shoulders and pelvis together • pain when pressure is applied to the top of the head • pain on straight-leg raising but not on bending forward to touch the toe or when
sitting up on the couch • superficial tenderness not corresponding to the distribution of a nerve • loss of power that is regional and jerky, suddenly giving way.
