ArticleEmergency medicine Australasia : EMA2026
Is Emergency Department Care for Low Back Pain Meeting Contemporary Standards? A Medical Record Review.
Article in Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Hospital Avoidance Pathway With Digitally Supported Follow-Up for Low Back Pain: An Alternative to Emergency Department Care.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2026Article
- Is Emergency Department Care for Low Back Pain Meeting Contemporary Standards? A Medical Record Review.Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA · 2026Article
- Still Hurting: Low Back Pain Presentations in the Emergency Department: A Retrospective Observational Study With a Cross-Sectional Follow-Up Survey.Pain research & management · 2026Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn 2022, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare released clinical care standards for managing low back pain (LBP), including in emergency departments (EDs), where guideline non-adherent care has been reported. This study aimed to describe LBP care in a tertiary hospital ED against these new clinical standards.
methodsA 12-month retrospective review of medical records from a random sample of adults with LBP presenting to a tertiary hospital ED. Outcomes focused on key aspects of LBP care aligned with the eight quality statements in the Low Back Pain Clinical Care Standards (LBPCCS). Descriptive statistics were used to describe care against the quality indicators.
resultsOf the 1974 ED presentations with a LBP-related discharge diagnosis in 2023, 550 were randomly selected for review. After exclusions, 374 were assessed against the LBPCCS. All presentations were assessed against the clinical assessment outcomes (quality statements 1-3), and 335 presentations were assessed against the ED management outcomes (quality statements 4-8). Clinical assessment and screening for serious/specific pathology was documented in 278 cases (74%); appropriate imaging in 66 (56%); self-management advice in 56 (17%); and psychosocial risk screening with referral in 56 cases (17%). Opioids were administered in 208 cases (62%) and anti-convulsants in 52 (16%).
conclusionIn a tertiary hospital ED, adherence to the LBPCCS is varied. The ED performed well against the clinical assessment/screening outcomes. However, findings suggest strategies are needed to improve performance against the management outcomes, including management advice, identification of psychosocial risk factors, and opioid use.
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