Physicians are often under pressure from patients to recommend diagnostic imaging for back pain, but these unnecessary tests have contributed to the relatively high increase in the overall costs of treatment. The average cost for back and neck problems increased 65 percent from $4,795 per patient in 1997 to $6,096 in 2005, adjusted for inflation.
Guidelines from the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society already limit imaging to patients who have severe or progressive neurologic deficits or signs or symptoms that suggest a serious or specific underlying condition.
Read the Annals of Internal Medicine study on low back pain.
