Mark Laslett – Back Pain 302 – Diagnosis and Treatment of the Lumbar Radicular Syndrome

Mark Laslett – Back Pain 302 – Diagnosis and Treatment of the Lumbar Radicular Syndrome

This course covers referred lower extremity pain secondary to nerve root compression, scarring, and/or irritation. Focuses mostly on leg pain associated with lumbar disc herniation.

Pre-requisites:  

• Back Pain 300: Introduction to Advanced Diagnosis and Management
• Back Pain 301: Mechanical Discogenic Pain

Who is this course suitable for?

This course is suitable for clinicians with some postgraduate experience and an interest in diagnosing and treating subcategories of radicular pain and radiculopathy. It is especially valuable for physiotherapists working with or triaging for spinal surgeons.

Why is this course important?

The most common cause of lower limb radicular pain with or without radiculopathy is lumbar disc protrusion, herniation, extrusion or sequestration.

What you will learn in this course.

This course uses a thorough and comprehensive reasoning process to guide clinicians from initial presentation to discharge regardless of pain severity or stage of presentation.

The course covers:

• Natural history of disc hernation from epidemiology to spontaneous remission.
• Diagnosis of radicular pain and radiculopathy using clinical findings from the history and physical examination, and magnetic resonance imaging.
• Patient selection for surgical vs non-surgical treatment, and orthopaedic referral criteria (lumbar discectomy).
• Peri and post-operative management and rehabilitation management using exercise, posture correction and loading progressions are covered in some detail, but is not prescriptive.
• The adherent nerve root and its association with epidural scarring is explored. Diagnosis and management is covered in some detail.

You will learn:

• Differential diagnosis of somatic referred vs radicular pain and radiculopathy
• Imaging indications and guidelines
• The role of injections and interventional procedures
• Non-surgical treatment pathways
• Surgical indications for lumbar discectomy
• Post-operative rehabilitation following discectomy
• Complications and confounders to diagnosis & treatment

Includes: 

• Pre-reading
• Quizzes
• CPD Certificate

Study Time: Approx. 15 hours (plus reading time)