SPINEVolume31,Number18,pp2115–2123©2006,LippincottWilliams&Wilkins,Inc
AGoldStandardEvaluationofthe“DiscogenicPain”DiagnosisasDeterminedbyProvocativeDiscographyEugeneJ
Carragee,MD,ToddLincoln,MD,VikSinghParmar,MD,andToddAlamin,MDStudyDesign
Thisisaprospectivestudyofthevalid-ityofapositivetestresultinprovocativelumbardiscog-raphyforthediagnosisof“discogenicpain
”Objective
Toinvestigatethehypothesisthatprovoc-ativediscographybystrictcriteriaaccuratelyidentifiesalowbackpainillnessduetoaprimarydisclesion
SummaryandBackgroundData
AccordingtotheSackettandHaynescriteriaforestablishingdiagnostictestvalidity,notestwithoutagoldstandardexternalstandardcanbemeaningfullyapplied
Provocativedis-cographyasatestfordetermining“discogenicpain”has,todate,notbeencomparedagainstagoldstandard
Ab-sentagoldstandar