Most common causes:
(1) idiopathic lumbar back pain (from strain or sprain)
(2) degenerative changes in facets and disks
(3) Baastrup’s disease (
lumbar interspinous bursitis)
(4) herniated disk
(5) spinal stenosis
(6) fracture (osteoporotic, traumatic)
(7) spondylolysis or spondylolisthesis
(8) osteophyte with nerve root compression
(9) congenital kyphosis and/or scoliosis
(10) congenital transitional vertebrae
(11) internal disk disruption (diskogenic low back pain)
(12) presumed instability (with > 10 degrees angulation or > 4 mm of vertebral displacement)
Less common causes:
(1) primary or metastatic neoplasm
(2) osteomyelitis
(3) septic diskitis
(4) paraspinous abscess
(5) epidural abscess
(6) Herpes zoster with shingles
(7) ankylosing spondylitis
(8) psoriatic spondylitis
(9) Reiter’s syndrome
(10) rheumatoid arthritis
(11) inflammatory bowel disease
(12) osteochrondrosis (Scheuermann’s disease)
(13) prostatitis or endometriosis
(14) chronic pelvic inflammatory disease
(15) nephrolithiasis
(16) pyelonephritis or perinephric abscess
(17) pancreatitis
(18) cholecystitis
(19) penetrating peptic ulcer
(20) diverticulitis
(21) fibromyalgia
(22) somatoform disorder
(23) failed back surgery syndrome
(24) abdominal aortic aneurysm
(25) Paget’s disease of bone
Pseudo-back pain:
(1) malingering
(2) drug-seeking behavior
