Antibiotics could end the curse of lower back pain, claim researchers

Research found that infections cause up to 40 per cent of cases of lower back pain
Research found that infections cause up to 40 per cent of cases of lower back pain
ANTHONY BRADSHAW/GETTY IMAGES

Hundreds of thousands of people with chronic lower back pain could be cured by antibiotics, according to ground-breaking research that one expert said deserved a Nobel Prize.

The discovery that infections cause up to 40 per cent of cases of lower back pain has prompted calls for an overhaul of NHS treatment to avoid unnecessary surgery. If results from Denmark are confirmed, they could spare hundreds of thousands of people in Britain agony and turn doctors’ understanding of the condition on its head.

“For this group of patients it is revolutionary,” said Hanne Albert, of the University of Southern Denmark, who led the research.

The findings apply to people with microfractures of the vertebrae known as Modic changes, characterised by severe pain which persists at