Page 20 - BackSpace October 2017

General news
New Belgian clinical guideline published
Luc Ailliet and Bart Vandendries report.
THE BELGIAN Health Care Knowledge Center (KCE) published a new guideline on the assessment and management of lower back pain (LBP) and radicular pain on Friday 19 May 2017.
The mission of this federal scientific centre is, on the basis of scientific analysis and research, to advise policymakers on decisions relating to health care and health insurance. Its role is to identify and shed light on the best possible solutions, in the context of an accessible, high-quality health care system with due regard for growing demand and budgetary constraints. Further, KCE supports care providers by developing clinical guidelines, gearing these towards the evolving body of scientific knowledge and publishing on methodologies that serve as a guide for other health care researchers.
First there was the composition of the experts and a stakeholder group, later named the Guideline Development Group (GDG).
This group consisted of 32 members, all with a proven
track record in research and/or guideline development. They were physiotherapists (7), anaesthetists/ pain therapists (5), specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation (5), orthopaedic surgeons (5), neurosurgeons (4), general practitioners (3), psychologists (2) and one chiropractor.
The opening meeting of the GDG was held on 22 September 2015. Non-pharmacological and non-invasive interventions were the initial scope of the guideline. In order to prepare the discussion with the expert and stakeholders, the KCE expert team (four functionaries from the KCE)
compared four guidelines, two relatively old (KCE 2006 and NICE 2009) and two recent (the APTA 2012 and the SIGN 2013). At that time, it became clear that a new NICE guideline was being prepared and the KCE decided
to postpone the development of the guideline pending the revised NICE guideline (expected to be ready for public consultation in March 2016 and publication in November 2016).
“This is historic for chiropractic in Belgium; the result of many years of hard work”
The search strategy for guidelines focused on guidelines published after 1 January 2010. Several search engines were
used. After removal of duplicate guidelines, 17 guidelines were selected based on title and abstract. The appraisal of the NICE guideline was based on the comprehensive AGREE checklist.
The GDG convened every six
to eight weeks. All therapies and modalities were discussed at length and consensus was sought where possible, especially when it came
to the final version of the role of manipulation, when it became clear that the presence of a chiropractor was vital to have the GDG stick to the available evidence.
The KCE publishes several reports each year, but this report (no. 287) for Good Clinical Practice on the assessment and management of LBP and radicular
pain is of utmost importance
for the chiropractic profession
in Belgium. Not only is spinal manipulation specifically mentioned in the guideline as a treatment option, but the fact
that the KCE consulted the BCU for expertise makes this very special. BCU member Dr Luc Ailliet DC, PhD, represented us
at the KCE. The BCU has its logo positioned on the front page of the guideline together with the logos of the Belgian Spine Society, the Belgian Back Society and other conventional medical bodies.
Raf Mertens, general manager of the KCE commented: “When we were formulating the guideline we were able to call on a very dynamic, multidisciplinary group of experts who combined their knowhow to help us separate the wheat from the chaff. We extend our sincere gratitude to them for their valuable contribution.”
This is historic for chiropractic in Belgium; the result of many years of hard work to increase
our credibility among the general public, other health care providers, politicians and academics.
Bart Vandendries, president of the BCU, said: “We can be very proud of this achievement and I would
like to thank my board members for sharing the same vision and drive about our profession and of course, special thanks to our colleague Dr Luc Ailliet DC, PhD. With this new guideline, we’ve made a difference. And this new guideline is only the first part of a diptych. It will be followed by a proposal for a care pathway for these patients with LBP and radicular pain.”
You can find the report in English at
https://tinyurl.com/y776vnmf
ECCE renews Durban University of Technology accreditation
FOLLOWING THE
report of a three-day on-site evaluation in April, the ECCE Commission on Accreditation confirmed
the re-accreditation of the Department of Chiropractic and Somatology’s five-year programme leading to the M.Tech: Chiropractic, Master in Technology of Chiropractic degree, until 2022.
In the ECCE assessment, the department was particularly commended for the refurbishment of
its clinic and many of its facilities for students. The commitment of students was highly regarded, as were the outstanding opportunities for student engagement with outreach activities. The integration of the university’s basic science teaching with the chiropractic course was exemplary.
Looking to the future,
the ECCE pointed to means by which the involvement
of faculty in research could be increased, e-learning opportunities for students standardised and feedback on patient experience and satisfaction introduced as
a basis for improvement of services and marketing of the profession more widely.
BACKspace offers the warmest congratulations to the department on a fine achievement.
20 BACKspace www.chiropractic-ecu.org October 2017