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General practitioners' management of lumbosacral radicular syndrome compared with a clinical guideline
Pim A J Luijsterburg1, Arianne P Verhagen, Sigrid Braak
1Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Department of General Practice, Room Ff319, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. p.luijsterburg@erasmusmc.nl
Objective:
To investigate the current treatment policy of general practitioners (GPs) in patients with a lumbosacral radicular syndrome (LRS) compared with their clinical guideline.
Design:
A cross sectional survey.
Methods:
Sixty-three GPs completed questionnaires about their treatment policy in individual LRS patients at baseline and at six months follow-up. Simultaneously, 136 LRS patients of these GPs were interviewed at baseline, and at three and six month's follow-up.
Results:
Of the 12 recommendations in the guideline related to history taking, four were not adhered to by the GPs in about 25% of the patients. Of the ten recommended physical examinations, three are not frequently carried out by the GPs. Almost 40% of the patients were referred to physiotherapy and 27% received muscle relaxants.
Conclusion:
The majority of the GPs support the content of the LRS guideline. Overall, there was a good adherence with the guideline for history taking and physical examination, and a moderate adherence for treatment policy.
