Chronic low back pain and the failed low back syndrome.

Disorders associated with back pain usually have two components. One pertains to the spinal disorder and the other to symptoms and signs that result from compromise of individual nerve roots, the cauda equina, or, in some cases, the conus medullaris. In this article, those spinal structures capable of giving rise to pain, its approximate distribution, the nature of the discomfort and disturbance of spinal and neural function consequent upon disease of the vertebral column, and the evaluation and management of the individual patient will be considered.