Take Home Points
- Ask about the red flags: cancer, fever, IVDA, FND, point tenderness, saddle/perianal anesthesia, trauma, urinary retention, bowel incontinence, weight loss
- Most don’t need XR’s – set this expectation and advise against bed rest
- Consider XR’s: h/o cancer, extremes of age, osteoporosis, new back pain in the elderly, trauma
- Perform POCUS and check the aorta
- Only 33% of patients with epidural abscess have fever – consider in all IVDA patients
REBEL Core Cast – Basics of EM – Back Pain
Click here for Direct Download of the Podcast
Co-Host
Marco E. Propersi, DO, FAAEM
Vice Chair/Associate Medical Director
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Emergency Medicine
Nuvance Health at Vassar Brothers Medical Center
Associate Editor, REBEL EM
Board of Directors, NJ-ACEP
Twitter: @marco_propersi
Post Peer Reviewed By: Anand Swaminathan, MD (Twitter: @EMSwami)
Cite this article as: Ellsworth Wright, "REBEL Core Cast – Basics of EM – Back Pain", REBEL EM blog, June 1, 2022. Available at: https://rebelem.com/rebel-core-cast-basics-of-em-back-pain/.