| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 12 | Page : 6115-6120 |
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Plain lumbosacral X-rays for low back pain: Findings correlate with clinical presentation in primary care settings
Mohammed AlAteeq1, Abdelelah A Alseraihi2, Abdulaziz A Alhussaini2, Sultan A Binhasan2, Emad A Ahmari2
1 Family Medicine Department, Ministry of National Guard - Health Affairs, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2 King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Mohammed AlAteeq
Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, P.O. Box 22490, Riyadh 11426
Saudi Arabia
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1238_20
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Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a common disabling condition frequently seen and managed in primary care. LBP is considered to be the most common health problem for which general practitioners order an imaging test. Objective: To correlate radiological findings of plain lumbosacral X-rays with the initial clinical presentation of patients with back pain. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional retrospective chart review study, conducted for 384 adult patients, with back pain who had plain lumbosacral X-rays, at three primary healthcare centers at King Abdul-Aziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the period from 1 Jan 2017 to 31 Dec 2018. Results: The majority of cases had either normal lumbosacral X-rays (32.8%) or incidental findings that were nonspecific. The most abnormal findings were degenerative changes such as spondylosis (osteophytosis) and narrowing of the intervertebral foraminal space (45.3%). The vast majority of cases of chronic back pain was associated with abnormal findings on a plain lumbosacral X-ray, which constituted most cases with abnormal findings among subjects. Conclusion: Lumbosacral X-ray findings in the vast majority of cases do not correlate with clinical presentation and do not justify routinely ordering imaging studies for nonspecific back pain in a primary care setting.
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