Researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland have found that routine X-Ray, MRI, CT scan or radiography on patients suffering from low back pain, have no effect on the clinical outcomes.

As such, lead researcher Dr. Roger Chou and colleagues opine that doctors should refrain from conducting regular medical imaging, except in cases like herniated disks, muscle injuries, arthritis or broken bones, wherein they detect a serious underlying condition for back pain.

The researchers of the study - published in The Lancet - based their conclusions on the analysis of six trials, including more than 1,800 low back pain patients. The final evaluation of the results indicated that there was no noticeable difference between patients given standard medical care and those who received immediate imaging.

Noting that "Rates of utilization of lumbar MRI are increasing, and implementation of diagnostic-imaging guidelines for low back pain remains a challenge," the researchers wrote that there is a need to categorize back-pain evaluation, thereby avoiding needless imaging.

The study was accompanied by interpretations by Dr. Michael Kochen, of the University of Goettingen in Germany, who wrote: "If there are no warning signs pointing to a serious cause of low back pain, imaging is almost never helpful to guide treatment. Routine imaging of patients with low back pain is a waste of health care resources!" (Harkiran contributed to this report)