A prospective study was carried out to compare the effects of various forms of conservative treatment in 398 patients with low back pain only (group I) or back pain radiating to the buttocks and/or thighs and no neurological deficit (group II). Patients in group I had one of three types of back pain syndromes: acute (subgroup A), chronic (subgroup B) or acute in a chronic history of pain (subgroup C). Group II included two subgroups, acute (A) and chronic (B). Patients in each subgroup were assigned randomly to one of several treatments: manipulation, drug therapy, physiotherapy, placebo, bed rest (only in acute syndromes), low back school (only in chronic syndromes). Patients were evaluated before treatment and 3 weeks, 2 months and 6 months after the onset of treatment. Evaluation was made on a score system based on the patient's subjective score and the examiner's score. In subgroups IA and IIA, the greatest improvement was initially observed in patients treated by manipulation, whereas at long-term follow-up no significant difference was found between the various methods of treatment. In subgroup IB, the best results were obtained with physiotherapy at short term and Low Back School at long term. In subgroup IC, the most marked improvement was observed at three weeks in the patients who had undergone physiotherapy and at six months in those assigned to low back school. In subgroup IIB, physiotherapy gave the best results at both shorts and long-term follow-ups.

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