From Acute to Chronic Back Pain Risk Factors, Mechanisms, and Clinical Implications

Chronic back pain has been and continues to be a major cause of distress (both to people with persistent pain and their significant others), disability, work loss, and a huge cost to society. Moreover, with the aging population, it is becoming even more prevalent and as a consequence is having an escalating impact upon the healthcare systems and society as a whole worldwide. A significant issue concerns understanding why, although the majority of people with acute back symptoms recover in a reasonable time, a significant minority evolve into patients with chronic pain and prolonged pain-related disability. Understanding the variables that contribute to chronicity could serve as a basis for early intervention to prevent the downward spiral.

In the past 15 years, psychological and psychobiological mechanisms have been identified as important risk factors in back pain, leading to the development of early screending methods (Yellow Flag diagnostics) and new psychosocial interventions. These work by closely targeting treatment modalities to patients' needs. However, many aspects of how acute pain becomes chronic pain remain unexplained. Recent neurobiological work investigating genetic, neurophysiological, and biomechanical processes has uncovererd important mechanisms involved in chronic and acute back pain.

From Acute to Chronic Back Pain examines the risk factors and mechanisms involved in the transition from acute to chronic back pain. It integrates genetic, biomechnanical neurobiological, psychophysiological, psychosocial, and socieconomic risk factors. Moreover, the text examines advances in treatment approaches based on evidence from published studies-ranging from prevention of disability to pharmacological, psychological, and rehabilitative strategies and methods.

Broad in scope, and with contributions from leading authorities in their respective fields, this book is a valuable and comprehensive work for the many specialities involved with back pain - including those in the fields of clinical and health psychology, physiology, epidemiology, and pain.

Monika I. Hasenbring, Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Faculty of Medicine, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany,Adina C. Rusu, Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany and Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom,Dennis C. Turk, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington, School of Medicine, USA

Preface
Section I: Current developments in epidemiology
1. Epidemiology of back pain, from the laboratory to the bus stop: psychosocial risk factors, biological mechanisms and interventions in population-based research?, Blair H. Smith, Nicola Torrance, Gary J. Macfarlane
2. Defining chronic pain by prognosis, Kate M Dunn, Peter R Croft
Section II: Risk Factors of chronic back pain and disability: Biological Mechanisms
3. Genetic factors modulating chronic back pain, Julia Metzner and Irmgard Tegeder
4. Peripheral and central sensitization as risk factors of low back pain, Hermann Handwerker
5. Dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and associated stress axes in the development of chronic LBP, John McBeth and Andrea Power
6. Central imaging of pain and the process of chronicity, Sandra Kamping and Herta Flor
7. Structural brain changes in patients with chronic back pain, Arne May and A. Vania Apkarian
8. The Psychophysiology of Chronic Back Pain Patients, Kati Thieme and Richard H. Gracely
Section III: Risk Factors of chronic back pain and disability: Biomechanical Mechanisms
9. Electromyographically-determined Muscular Fatigue in Low Back Pain, A.F. Mannion and D. O'Riordan
10. Unmasking the Deconditioning Paradigm for Chronic Low Back Pain Patients., Jeanine Verbunt, Robert Smeets, and Harriet Wittink
Section IV: Risk Factors of chronic back pain and disability: Sociodemographic and psychosocial mechanisms
11. Screening of Psychological Risk Factors (Yellow Flags) for Chronic Back Pain and Disability, Chris J. Main, Nicholas A.S. Kendall, and Monika Hasenbring
12. Dispositional fear, anxiety sensitivity, and hypervigilence, R. Nicholas Carleton and Gordon J.G. Asmundson
13. Processes Underlying the Relation between Catastrophizing and Chronic Pain: Implications for Intervention, Michael JL Sullivan and Marc O. Martel
14. Fear-avoidance as a risk factor for the development of chronic back pain and disability, Linda Vancleef, Ida Flink, and Steven Linton
15. Endurance?related pain responses in the development of chronic back pain, Monika I. Hasenbring, Dirk Hallner, and Adina C. Rusu
16. Cognitive processing and self-pain enmeshment in chronic back pain, Adina C Rusu and Tamar Pincus
17. Significant others in the chronicity of pain and disability, Annmarie Cano and Laura Leong
18. Effects of Workers' Compensation Systems on Recovery from Disabling Injuries, James P. Robinson and John D. Loeser
19. Work-related risk factors for transition to chronic back pain and disability, William S. Shaw Glenn S. Pransky and Chris J. Main
Section V: Practitioner's role in the process of care
20. The Physician as Disability Advisor for Back Pain Patients, James Rainville, Glenn Pransky, Sarah Gibson, and Pradeep Suri
21. The attitudes and beliefs of clinicians treating back pain: Do they affect patients' outcome?, Tamar Pincus, Rita Santos, and Steven Vogel
Section VI: Clinical Implications - New approaches to Diagnostics and Treatment
22. International guidelines for the diagnostics and treatment of acute, sub-acute and chronic back pain, Maurits van Tulder and Bart Koes
Section VII: Clinical approaches for patients with acute and subacute LBP
23. Engaging patients in their own care for back care: the role of education and advice in the prevention of chronic pain and disability, Chris J. Main and Kim Burton
24. Motivational Issues in Pain Management, Robert D. Kerns, Mark P. Jensen, and Warren R. Nielson
25. Pharmacotherapy of Low Back Pain, Kay Brune and Bertold Renner
Section VIII: Subgroup-specific approaches for patients at risk for or with chronic pain
26. Reviewing the concept of subgroups in sub-acute and chronic pain and the potential of customizing treatments, Adina C. Rusu, Katja Boersma, and Dennis C. Turk
27. Risk factor based cognitive behavioral therapy for acute and subacute back pain, Monika I. Hasenbring, Bernhard W. Klasen, Adina C. Rusu
Section IX: Clinical approaches for patients with established pain and disability
28. Physical exercise interventions and low back pain, JB Staal, CG Maher, and WS Shaw
29. Contextual cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain (including back pain), Lance M. McCracken
30. Rehabilitation programs to prevent severely disabling chronic back pain, MK Nicholasa and RJEM Smeets