Chief Scientific Officer Simon Dagenais, DC, PhD, and members of the clinical advisory board of Palladian Health LLC, West Seneca, NY, including Chairman Scott Haldeman, DC, MD, PhD, John Mayer, DC, PhD, and William Quillen, PT, PhD, FACSM, director of the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of South Florida, were participants at the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Combined Sections Meeting held recently in San Diego. They also led a scientific session on Evidenced Informed Management of Chronic Low Back Pain Without Surgery.

The team of experts in management of muscular skeletal disease presented evidence supporting each of the major treatment categories that are widely used for chronic low back pain, including supervised exercise, physical modalities, manual therapies, medications, injections, and surgery. Dagenais, a musculoskeletal epidemiologist, issued a statement noting that "no one single approach has yet to demonstrate definitive superiority to the alternatives available for chronic low back pain." The result, he pointed out, makes it very challenging for clinicians, policy makers, insurers, and patients to make truly informed decisions as to the most effective, safest, and least costly treatment option. The primary goal of that session was to bring scientific evidence to the forefront of the discussion to insure that decision makers are informed about its current strengths and limitations.

Dagenais, Haldeman, and Mayer have previously given similar presentations on this topic to other professional groups with an interest in managing low back pain, including the American Back Society, Florida Chiropractic Association, North American Spine Society, American Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges Research Agenda Conference, to help reduce some of the existing barriers that may exist between the many professions involved in caring for patients with spinal conditions.

Palladian is a muscular skeletal health care company that integrates physical therapy, chiropractic, health, and fitness with patient care advocacy to improve clinical and economic outcomes.

[Source: Palladian]

Web Site: http://www.palladianhealth.com/