[Emergencies with the back and joints?].

General practitioners are frequently consulted for back and joint pain. Rarely, they are caused by serious diseases necessitating quick action to prevent complications such as irreversible neurological deficits or cartilage destruction. These include infections, haemorrhages and tumours, as well as diseases of various internal organs. A detailed history and physical examination provide red flags for specific causes of pain. In addition, synovia analyses allow differentiation between various causes of joint swelling. Finally, yellow flags point to exaggerated pain behaviour.