Diagnostic use of procedures and measurements used during clinical lumbosacral radiculopathy examination according to the principles of evidence-based medicine: a systematic review

Abstract

The impact that evidence-based medicine has on the ability of clinical tests and measurements to predict radiculopathy diagnoses cannot be underestimated. In most cases, lumbosacral radicular syndrome is self-limiting and the symptoms disappear spontaneously in weeks or months. On the other hand, if the pain becomes chronic, it causes important physical and work disability. The lack of technical knowledge encouraged this literature review on the diagnostic usefulness of clinical tests for this problem. The goals of this study was to determine the best medical practices according to scientific evidence on the procedures and measurements used during clinical examination; determine the diagnostic criteria for lumbosacral radiculopathies; list the most common tests; determine the diagnostic properties of the tests; and assess their objectivity. The authors reviewed 53 articles found in relevant databases Medline, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Lilacs and Scielo, using the keywords “Evidence-based Medicine”, “Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures”, “Radiculopathy”, “Lumbosacral Region”, “Diagnostic Tests”, “Nerve Compression Syndromes”, “Diagnostic Techniques, Neurological”, “Reliability”, “Validity”, “Physical Examination”, “Neurologic Examination”, “Signs”, “Sensitivity and Specificity”, “Predictive Value of Tests”, “Sciatica” and “Confidence Intervals”, and their respective translations in Portuguese and Spanish. Special emphasis was given to the epidemiological aspects, diagnostic criteria, and diagnostic reliability and use of clinical lumbosacral radiculopathy tests. The medical literature strongly recommends a complete assessment based on the best clinical tests. More studies are necessary for determining the properties of the less well-known tests