Study: Avoid routine X-rays for back pain

Part of patient education and responsibility should include all diagnostic tests. Weighing the risks/rewards can only happen when the physician is upfront and honest. If a test will not give an answer, it should not be ordered. Exposure to radiation coupled with the high costs associated with unnecessary tests should fall under the 'Do no harm' mantra.

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com WASHINGTON - Routine use of costly X-ray, MRI and CT scans on patients with lower back pain may be unnecessary and, in the case of two of the tests, expose people to low-dose radiation, researchers said. Back pain is one of the most common reasons people visit a doctor or miss work. Experts say while most patients have no serious underlying condition causing the pain, doctors often immediately order imaging procedures that can check for problems like herniated disks, muscle injuries, arthritis or broken bones. "Some clinicians still do lumbar-spine imaging routinely or without a clear indication, possibly because they aim to reassure their patients and themselves, to meet patient expectations about diagnostic tests," or other reasons, the researchers wrote. Patients who insist on having an imaging procedure should be told of their limited usefulness, Kochen added.