Assessment of Back Pain

Running head: ASSESSMENT OF BACK PAIN
ASSESSMENT OF BACK PAIN
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1ASSESSMENT OF BACK PAIN
Q1) Explain the pathophysiology of David’s lower back pain.
David was suffering from lower back pain due to metastatic lesions in lumbar and
thoracic vertebra of spinal cord. Bone is considered as the most common site for metastasis
and spinal cord is the common area considered for the metastatic deposits (George et al.,
2015). The spinal bone undergoes a constant resorption process because of remodelling due
to osteoblast. In a healthy person, the process is normal and balanced while in metastatic
person, the cells loses balance and create a mixed lesions known as osteoblastic lesions
(Kumar et al., 2017). These lesions developed due to tumour cells, by creating a
disequilibrium in the osteolytic activity of the bone. Once the tumour cells have conquered
the bone, different growth factors will be released, which will lead to bone destruction and
development of local tumour. Hence, this invasion of tumour cells in the spinal bone results
in severe back pain of the patient (Ropper & Ropper, 2017).
Q2) A) Discuss the effectiveness of NSAIDS for pain management in older people.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is considered as one of the best class
of drug for pain management in older people. Ibuprofen and aspirin are some of the
common drugs in NSAIDs. Anti-inflammatory effect is exhibited by NSAIDs, which is effective
in case of older people (Money & Garber, 2018). The opioid-associated and central nervous
system (CNS) associated side effects are exhibited in NSAIDs making it effective for elders to
consume during acute pain. The drug is considered safe for the patients with rapid onset for
quick relief. The drug has no major side effect even if high dose is consumed by older people
for effective pain management (Malec & Shega, 2015).