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Bridget M. Kuehn

JAMA. 2007;298(19):2253.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Physicians treating patients with low back pain should carefully assess the cause of their pain, whether nonspecific or the consequence of an underlying condition, and be selective about the use of diagnostic imaging, according to new guidelines on the treatment of low back pain released by the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society in October (Chou R et al. Ann Intern Med. 2007;147[7]:478-491).

A lack of evidence-based guidelines for treating low back pain prompted the 2 organizations to develop the guidelines, said Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHA, of the American College of Physicians. The document's recommendations are based on an extensive literature review, and a panel of experts from the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society evaluated the strength of the evidence for various recommendations included in the guidelines using a system created by the US Preventive Services Task Force.

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ROUTINE IMAGING DISCOURAGED