For Immediate Release: September 29, 1999
Contact: Contact: Hali Wickner (603) 650-1520
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Multicenter Back Pain Study headed by Dartmouth Medical School
HANOVER, NH Dartmouth Medical School will lead a multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health study of back pain that is expected to have a major impact on clinical practice and on the cost of medical services for those with certain back disorders.
Dr. James N. Weinstein, professor of community and family medicine and of surgery at the medical school, will direct the comprehensive study to compare surgical versus nonsurgical treatment in almost 1,500 patients at 11 medical centers. The five-year study, which will exceed $13.5 million, is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
Dartmouth Medical School will be headquarters for the research that will compare the two treatment approaches in patients with one of three back conditions: herniated (bulging) lumbar disc, spinal stenosis (narrowing of the canal through which the spinal cord passes) or degenerative spondylolisthesis (where a vertebra in the spine slips forward out of place).
Patients enrolled at participating centers, which include the medical school and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, will be randomly assigned to either surgical or nonsurgical treatment. Nonsurgical treatments will be prescribed according to the diagnosis and duration of the condition and could include bed rest, physical therapy, home exercise, epidural injections, and oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other non-narcotic medications.
Researchers will collect and evaluate information regarding health-related quality of life, spine-related disability and the use of resources for help. An additional 1,800 people with back pain and the above diagnosis will be observed to assess health and resource outcomes and help estimate cost-effectiveness of treatment.
Pain involving lumbar spine disorders is among the most prevalent problems for which people seek medical help and one of the most costly in terms of medical treatment and disability involving days lost from work. Medical care for those disabled by severe back pain ranges from $30 to $70 billion annually, according to estimates.
Other participating centers include Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio), Emory Spine Center (Decatur, Ga.), the Hospital for Special Surgery (New York, N.Y.), Rothman Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.), Nebraska Spine Surgeons, PC (Omaha, Neb.), Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke Medical Center (Chicago, Ill.), University of California (San Francisco, Calif.), The Hospital for Joint Diseases (New York, N.Y.), Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.) and William Beaumont Hospital (Royal Oak, Mich.).
Dartmouth will begin enrolling patients in February 2000. For further information contact Judi Forman, MPH, Dartmouth project coordinator, at (603) 650-2591 or toll free at 1-888-794 BACK (2225).
