Psychosomatic aspects of Failed Back Syndrome: why low back pain becomes achronic disorder

Low back pain (LBP) is a widespread disorder. The socioeconomic costs cause d by LBP have been increasing dramatically over the past years. These high costs are mainly due to the relatively small percentage of chronic cases. A lthough the multitude of empirical findings available thus far offer an imp ressive body of knowledge about the mechanisms and factors responsible for chronification, most LBP-patients are still being treated without their psy chosocial situation being taken into account. In addition to providing a di scussion of the reasons underlying this imbalance along with a review of ou r present understanding of Failed Back Syndrome,this article also serves as an argument in favor of an interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of pain.