Question

Which of the following constitutes a ‘red flag’ regarding low back pain?

	A.	recent onset bladder dysfunction/overflow incontinence
	B.	positive 'straight leg raise' test
	C.	positive ‘slump test’
	D.	pain worse at rest and relieved by moderate activity
	E.	pain worsened by physical activity

Answer 1

Option D is the correct answer.

Red flag regarding low back pain indicated secondary causes of low back pain which can be determined by history or physical examination of the patients.

Primary causes of acute low back pain include dysfunction of the musculoskeletal and ligamentous structures. Secondary causes of acute low back pain include metabolic diseases, inflammatory rheumatologic disorders, referred pain from other sources, Paget's disease, fibromyalgia etc.

Although bladder dysfunction/ overflow inconvenience are also red flag but it should be chronic. Here it is recent onset and the reason is not clear, sometime the reason is reversible. Therefore option D is the correct answer.