Automatic referral of patients with back pain to MRI makes neither economic nor clinical sense

March 10, 2008 Automatic referral of patients with back pain to MRI makes neither economic nor clinical sense Paula Gould -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Days spent sitting in lecture theatres and seminar rooms, long hikes from scientific sessions to the exhibition hall with a briefcase under one arm and a weighty conference bag on the other shoulder, evenings hunched over a laptop putting the final touches to the next day's presentation… It could be argued that attending ECR is a recipe for backache. Back pain is an extremely common complaint at general practitioners' offices and a frequent reason for people being absent from work. In many cases, the cause of the pain will be mechanical, rather than a serious underlying medical condition. Approximately 80% of people presenting with acute back pain for the first time will be pain-free within six weeks, whatever treatment is prescribed.

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