Diagnostic Tests for Back pain

Diagnostic Test list for Back pain:

The list of diagnostic tests mentioned in various sources as used in the diagnosis of Back pain includes:

Physical examination
- General inspection - posture, gait, level of distress.
- Inspect the back, examine range of movement of the back to reproduce pain, palpation of the back
- Neurological examination of the lower limbs if symptoms extend below the buttocks
- Examine related joints e.g. hip and sacroiliac
- General medical examination if appropriate e.g. rectal examination
Blood tests
- Full blood count and ESR
- Calcium, Phosphate and Alkaline phosphatase
- Prostatic specific antigen (PSA) in males if appropriate
- HLA-B27 antigen test fro Ankylosing Spondylitis and Reiter's disease
- Rheumatoid factor for Rheumatoid arthritis
- Serum electrophoresis for Multiple myeloma
- Blood culture for vertebral osteomyelitis
Other tests
- Mantoux test - if suspect Skeletal tuberculosis.
- Urine tests - Urinalysis and culture to detect Urinary tract infection.
- Spinal X-ray - can detect arthritis changes, fractures, reduced bone mass, reduced bone height, spondylolisthesis.
- Spinal CT or MRI - perform if radiation of pain around the trunk or into legs or if the person has persistent back pain as can detect spinal canal stenosis or nerve root compression.
- Bone scan - can detect the early development of malignant disease, osteomyelitis and inflammatory disease before changes are apparent on plain X-Ray.
- Bone densitometry - can predict an increased risk of osteoporosis.
- Electromyographic (EMG) studies - to screen leg pain and differentiate neurological diseases from nerve compression syndromes.
- If the above investigations are negative, the possibility of a non- neurological or non-orthopedic condition causing the back pain should be considered e.g. abdominal ultrasound scan to rule out aortic aneurysm; pelvic tumor ; Prostatic tumor , pancreatic tumor

Home Diagnostic Testing

These home medical tests may be relevant to Back pain causes:

Nerve Neuropathy: Related Home Testing:
- Home Diabetes Test Kits
- Home Blood Glucose Testing Kits

Conditions listing medical symptoms: Back pain:

The following list of conditions have 'Back pain' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

Select from the following alphabetical view of conditions which include a symptom of Back pain or choose View All.