Non-specific neck pain: diagnosis and treatment - KCE

KCE reports 119C non-specific neck pain i
FOREWORD
The KCE report « Chronic low back pain » drew and still draws attention, in Belgium as
well as abroad. The rise in the ageing population together with an increasingly sedentary
lifestyle, has a negative influence on the prevalence of joint diseases in our country, and
hence also on the health care use and the associated costs.
The KCE keeps going with this report on non-specific neck pain. Many care providers
are confronted with these complaints; hence this report is the result from a scientific
collaboration between experts of different disciplines such as physical and rehabilitation
medicine, general medicine, anesthetics, neurosurgery. We want to thank the team
from the Center for General Practice from the University of Antwerp for the
meticulous work they produced for this systematic literature review.
A broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic options are on the market. As a
consequence it is crucial to provide clinicians with information based on the most
recent evidence. We hope that this work will contribute to the optimal care of neck
pain, to an improved quality of life for the persons who endure it and to a decrease in
useless treatments that only give those patients false hopes.
Jean-Pierre Closon
General Director a.i.