Sensory Profiles in Patients with Low Back Pain with and Without Radiculopathy.

Objective: During routine clinical evaluation, it can be challenging to differentiate between lumbar radiculopathy (RAD) and lower back pain with non-radicular somatic referred pain (SRP) or even axial non-radiating low back pain (LBP). The aim of this study was to characterize patients with RAD, axial LBP (aLBP), and SRP on the basis of somatosensory profiles.

Methods: Patients with LBP (n = 54) were assessed with quantitative sensory testing in the area of LBP and, in cases of RAD, additionally in the area of projecting pain.

Sensory symptoms in low back pain-how do they matter?

Objective: Successful treatment of chronic low back pain (LBP) is difficult in clinical practice and hard to measure in trials. One reason might be the use of insufficient outcome parameters. The aim was to investigate the importance of typical clinical characteristics of chronic LBP on QoL and functionality.