The Biomechanics of Back Pain - Softcover

Adams BSc PhD, Michael A.; Burton OBE DO PhD Hon FFOM, Kim; Dolan BSc PhD, Patricia; Bogduk BSc(Med) MB BS MD PhD DSc DipAnat DipPainMed FAFRM FAFMM FFPM(ANZCA), Nikolai

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0443100683 ISBN 13: 9780443100680

Publisher: Churchill Livingstone, 2006

Synopsis

This practical text, written by four key researchers in the field, offers an effective approach to the management and treatment of back pain based on applications of biomechanics. By linking the clinical anatomy of the spine to biomechanics principles, it provides a bridge between anatomy and practical applications. This highly illustrated, up-to-date book is essential reading for anyone involved in the care and treatment of patients with back pain, as well as for those studying its causes and methods of prevention.

• Addresses the important and prevalent problem of back pain thoroughly from a unique biomechanics perspective.
• Written especially for practitioners, the book presents information in a way that is relevant to therapists who treat patients with back pain.
• Authored by four of the leading researchers in the field from different professional backgrounds, the book comprehensively examines back pain from diverse perspectives.
• Provides an understanding of back mechanics that is necessary in order to form an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.

• Six new chapters are included: Growth and Aging of the Lumbar Spine; Spinal Degeneration; Biomechanics of Spinal Surgery; Surgery for Disc Prolapse; Spinal Stenosis and Back Pain; and Conservative Management of Back Pain.
• Expanded sections on spinal growth and aging provide additional comprehensive information on this important topic.
• Includes additional and updated information on the interpretation and explanation of spine research literature.
• An expanded color plate section with 23 new black-and-white photographs and 21 new line drawings illustrate the content clearly.

About this title

About the Author:

I commenced research into spinal pain, in 1972, when essentially nothing was known about the problem. There being no established groups or departments working on this problem, I forged my own career, using borrowed resources. I commenced in a Department of Anatomy, where I pursued the innervation of the vertebral column as a fundamental element in understanding the sources and mechanisms of spinal pain. Professor Jim Lance fostered this interest, and accommodated my PhD studies. In his department I continued my anatomy studies but was able also to commence clinical applications. I developed and tested new diagnostic and surgical procedures for back pain and for neck pain. While in Professor Lance's Department, I participated in laboratory studies of the mechanisms of migraine. At the University of Queensland I continued to develop and apply the diagnostic and surgical techniques that I started at the University of NSW, serving as an honorary medical officer at the Pain Clinic of Princess Alexandra Hospital. Meanwhile I supervised science and medicine postgraduate students who undertook basic science studies into the biomechanics of the back and neck. At the University of Newcastle, I had established a reputation sufficient to attract a grant from the Motor Accidents Authority of NSW to investigate the cause and treatment of neck pain after whiplash. The grant supported three PhD students over a six year period. They performed studies that validated the diagnostic procedures and which tested the surgical procedures in a placebo-controlled double-blind randomized trial. Having established an international standing in the development and testing of treatments for spinal pain, I participated in the design and analysis of controlled trials conducted elsewhere in Australia and in the USA. These tested the efficacy of: lumbar radiofrequency neurotomy for back pain, intradiscal electrothermal anuloplasty for back pain, prolotherapy for back pain, exercises for neck pain. Between 1997 and 2002 I conducted the National Musculoskeletal Medicine Initiative which developed and tested evidence-based practice guidelines for the management of back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, and pain in the foot, wrist, and elbow. My work has been awarded the Volvo Award for Back Pain Research, the Research Prize of the Cervical Spine Research Society, the Award for Outstanding Research of the North American Spine Society, and three times the Research Prize of the Spine Society of Australia. My students have been awarded research prizes by the International Association for the Study of Pain, the Australian Rheumatology Association, and the Australian New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. I have never had a funded department to which to attract investigators and academics. I have relied on scholarships for students, and the goodwill of private practitioners who wished to contribute to clinical research. Of late, I have been supervising Neurosurgery residents undertaking studies of the outcomes of treatment for Radicular pain and back pain.

About this edition

• Publisher: Churchill Livingstone
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0443100683
• ISBN 13: 9780443100680
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 336