The Back Pain Revolution

by Gordon Waddell DSc, MD, FRCS

Overview

Accessible to all health care professionals, this text provides a guide to understanding and managing back pain and is one of the premier examples of a biopsychosocial approach to medicine. The content challenges unsubstantiated beliefs regarding the best way to treat and manage back pain and presents an interdisciplinary debate on the subject. In a society where patients are demanding more effective approaches to their problems, this resource offers a radical rethink, a necessary step to achieving a more effective method of treatment. The unorthodox spirit of this material places this book at the center of the revolution taking place in the back pain area.

• Gordon Waddell is the world authority on the topic of the back pain revolution.
• The content addresses huge problems of concern to many disciplines and governments.
• The unbiased, open-minded view looks at the issues and the evidence and invites the readers to consider, debate, and agree on the best course of action.
• Comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the problem offers both interventionist and conservative approaches to treatment, psychosocial issues, economic factors, patient education, and prevention.

New chapter on Occupational Health Guidelines involving new co-author

Chapters on Social Interactions and A New Clinical Model both completely rewritten

Chapters on Clinical Guidelines and Information and Advice for Patients both completely rewritten with new co-authors

Major new research findings incorporated throughout

The 'message', the size of the book, the overall style, and the target audience are be unchanged from the successful first edition.

The simple style and readability of the first edition has been carefully maintained.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780702043253
Publisher:	Elsevier Health Sciences
Publication date:	03/01/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	492
File size:	10 MB

Table of Contents

1. The Problem2. Diagnostic Triage3. Pain and Disability4. The History of Back Pain5. The Size of the Problem6. Risk Factors7. The Clinical Course of Simple Backache8. The Physical Basis of Simple Backache9. Physical Impairment10. Illness Behavior11. Psychological Distress

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Dana J Lawrence, DC, MMedEd, MA (Parker University)
Description: This text provides a comprehensive, evidence-based examination of the current state of the art with regard to back pain. Information is synthesized from the reports of a number of evidence-based working groups and consensus panels, focusing upon all aspects of back pain, including diagnosis, management, and social and policy issues.
Purpose: The purpose is to influence how primary care physicians treat painful but currently non-specific pain syndromes, including common low back pain, which have no apparent anatomical or pathologic cause. There is an increasing emphasis upon the psychosocial aspects of such care, and this is emphasized throughout the text.
Audience: This is directed at all professionals involved in the direct care of patients suffering from these pain conditions, and so it will have applicability and implications for orthopedic surgeons, medical physicians, osteopaths, chiropractors, physical therapists and ergonomists, occupational therapists, and so on. It will also have great use as a teaching text in all of these same professions.
Features: The text is based upon a thorough examination of the existing literature regarding the management of back pain syndromes. Every aspect of this phenomenon is examined, from the scope of the problem to the historical roots of back pain management, to the epidemiology of back pain and its clinical course. There is information on risk factors, on physical impairment and the physical basis of back pain, and there are several chapters devoted to the psychological issues surrounding back pain, from illness behavior to social interactions. Chapter 17 is given over to descriptions of the various existing back pain guidelines, such as those form the AHCPR in the United States and those from the RCOP and CSAG in the United Kingdom. Information for patients that arose from some of these guidelines is reproduced. Complete descriptions of what the U.S. and U.K. offer for the care of back pain and comments toward the future healthcare for this troubling condition close the book.
Assessment: This is simply essential reading. Everyone involved in caring for the back pain patient must read this text. It offers the most up-to-date information based upon evidence, not on anecdotes or simple care pathways. This is a must read and is highly recommended.

Doody's Review Service

Chiropractic Journal of Australia, December 2004"Waddell's biopsychosocial model provides a most appropriate context in which clinicians of all hues may best address the problem. There is a more empathetic view with the patients's perspective. This second edition is a nice follow-up."

From the Publisher