[It is estimated that 80% of the adult population consult their general practitioner for lower back pain at some point in their life. Apart from family doctors all medical specialists may encounter this complaint, which makes the wide-spread knowledge of this topic desirable. Pain associated with spinal diseases has two distinct types, non-inflammatory and inflammatory pain. Non-inflammatory diseases may cause moderate pain that increases with movement or functional limitation lasting for a few days, other times cause a pain pattern of varying intensity that radiates to the lower extremities and is accompanied by neurological symptoms, more rarely, present as cauda equina syndrome. In most cases, the underlying cause of the symptoms is a degenerative disorder of the spine. Spinal pain of inflammatory origin, on the other hand, is characterized by pain that worsens at night, characteristically narrowed mobility, changes in the skin, mucous membranes and joints, and sometimes fever or bad general condition. This type of pain is primarily caused by seronegative spondyloarthritis or, rarely, various pyogenic or non-pyogenic bacterial infections. Management of lower back pain aims to cease pain and restore function. These are achieved by unloading, medical pain relief, antiinflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants and antidepressants, as well as physiotherapy. In special cases the administration of other drugs (e.g., antibiotics) may be necessary along with pain relief. In seronegative spondyloarthritis traditional approaches will hopefully be supplemented by biological therapy in the future. This review of recently published results on spinal diseases accompanied by lower back pain will possibly help doctors in state-of-the art care of their patients.]
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