SynthesisBMC musculoskeletal disorders2021
The association between early MRI and length of disability in acute lower back pain: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.
Synthesis in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Association between Early Opioids Prescribing and the Length of Disability in Acute Lower Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of peer group management intervention on chronic pain intensity, number of areas of pain, and pain self-efficacy.Scandinavian journal of pain · 2025Trial
- Lumbar Magnetic Resonance Imaging Profiles and Their Association with Low Back Pain in Dentists: A Cluster Analysis Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Coexistence of neck pain and low back pain, and their association with demographic, occupational, and spine MRI-based morphological factors in dentists.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- "It's hard to trust an individual, it's easier to trust an image"-patients with low back pain want imaging as a means of coping with uncertainty.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Considering hounsfield units in native CT- scans for diagnosing spondylodiscitis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Explainable AI reveals tissue pathology and psychosocial drivers of opioid prescription for non-specific chronic low back pain.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Pain severity and opioid use in patients with spine-related diagnoses.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Assessing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women: preliminary results using a novel lumbar spine phantom-based MRI scoring method.La Radiologia medica · 2024Article
- Surpass Evolve Flow Diverter for the Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysm: A Systematic Review.Brain sciences · 2022Review
- Guideline-concordant utilization of magnetic resonance imaging in adults receiving chiropractic manipulative therapy vs other care for radicular low back pain: a retrospective cohort study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClinical guideline recommendations are against early magnetic resonance imaging (eMRI) within the first 4 to 6 weeks of conservative management of acute low back pain (LBP) without "clinical suspicion" of serious underlying conditions (red flags). There is some limited evidence that a significant proportion of patients with LBP receive eMRI non- indicated by clinical guidelines, which could be associated with increased length of disability (LOD). The aim of this systematic review was to investigate whether eMRI for acute LBP without red flags is associated with increased LOD. The LOD was defined as the number of disability days (absence from work).
methodsMedline, EMBASE, and CINAHL bibliographic databases were searched from inception until June 5, 2021. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of included studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale and extracted data for the review. The search identified 324 records, in which seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Three of the included studies used the same study population. Owing to between-study heterogeneity, a narrative synthesis of results was used.
resultsAll included studies were of good methodological quality and consistently reported that patients with acute LBP without red flags who received eMRI had increased LOD compared to those who did not receive eMRI. Three retrospective cohort studies reported that the eMRI groups had a higher mean LOD than the no eMRI groups ranging from 9.4 days (95% CI 8.5, 10.2) to 13.7 days (95% CI 13.0, 14.5) at the end of 1-year follow-up period. The remaining studies reported that the eMRI groups had a higher hazard ratio of work disability ranging between 1.75 (95% CI 1.23, 2.50) and 3.57 (95% CI 2.33, 5.56) as compared to the no eMRI groups.
conclusioneMRI is associated with increased LOD in patients with acute LBP without red flags. Identifying reasons for performing non-indicated eMRI and addressing them with quality improvement interventions may improve adherence to clinical guidelines and improve disability outcomes among patients with LBP.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.