The aims of this study were to evaluate a physiotherapy-led triage clinic (PLTC) and investigate general practitioner satisfaction with the PLTC. A retrospective cohort study was undertaken from January to December 2005 at a Melbourne tertiary teaching hospital. Outcomes assessed included waiting times to first appointment, patient attendance and surgery conversion rates. Outcomes were compared with the hospital 2002 benchmark data. GP satisfaction was evaluated by a survey.One-hundred and five new patients attended the PLTC clinic during the evaluation period. Patients waited 9 weeks for a PLTC appointment compared with 26 weeks for the general orthopaedic clinic and 23 weeks for the spinal orthopaedic clinic. Sixty-seven percent of the patients triaged in the PLTC were discharged from the orthopaedic outpatient department without requiring an orthopaedic surgeon consultation. Referring GPs were at least as satisfied with the management of their patients through the PLTC as with usual management in the general orthopaedic clinic.A PLTC can significantly reduce waiting times for orthopaedic outpatient appointments in a public hospital. Many patients can be managed by these experienced physiotherapists and their GPs, without the need for face-to-face contact with an orthopaedic surgeon. Pilot results indicated that GPs whose patients are managed in this PLTC were satisfied with this model for their patients with low back conditions.

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Background Low back pain (LBP) is a ubiquitous, heterogeneous disorder that affects most people at some point in their lives. The efficient management of LBP remains elusive, with direct and indirect costs attributed to LBP surpassing many other common conditions. An emphasis on a structural basis of LBP often fails to recognize movement, specifically patterns of movement that may provide biomechanical signatures of painful conditions. The primary objective of this registry is to understand the differences in movement patterns among those with LBP and those without pain in a U.S. population sample. Methods This ongoing, non-randomized, prospective post-market registry will consist of two groups: patients with LBP, and age and sex-matched controls without LBP. We will seek to recruit 132 subjects in each group. Data collection will take place in two phases: (1) baseline assessment of LBP patients and matched controls; (2) assessment of LBP patients at 6 and 12-months follow up. The primary outcome measure will be differences in movement patterns between those with LBP and those without LBP. Secondary outcomes will include differences in patient reported outcomes including pain, disability and quality of life. Discussion The findings will help determine if there are meaningful differences in movement patterns between those with and those without LBP. Further, an initial understanding of movement signatures specific to certain subtypes of patients with LBP may be achieved. Trial registration The study was registered on the clinicaltrials.gov portal: NCT03001037 . Trial retrospectively registered 12/22/2016.