Undertaking a literature search using PubMed

Abstract

Ms SK aged 35 years, limps into my room distressed at the persistence of her lower back pain and sciatica. She injured her back 18 months ago while lifting boxes at work. She has been on dextropropoxyphene/paracetamol and naproxen 1000 mg tablets. Despite physiotherapy and medications, her symptoms have persisted and she is now feeling very despondent. I know that antidepressants that inhibit noradrenaline reuptake (tricyclics and tetracyclics) may be effective in reducing chronic low back but, given the side effect profile of these medications, I would like to know whether the newer SSRI agents offer benefits with less risk. I decide to do a literature search using PubMed, which provides many online articles and texts on medical and health related issues, and is a search engine for medical literature. It contains structured abstracts that have been screened for their clinical relevance, although it lacks the ‘vetting’ of the Cochrane Library. PubMed is accessible through the National Library of Medicine, or via the RACGP website.