Spinal Manipulative Therapy for Low Back Pain

University of Bern104 enrolled

Overview

Context: Acute low back pain (LBP) is a common reason for consultations in primary care. Reducing the pain in the first hours and days and restoring the functional capacity of the lumbar spine may result in a decrease in medical costs and earlier return to work. Objective: To determine the impact of spinal manipulation on pain and analgesic use in acute low back pain.

Design: Randomised controlled parallel-group trial comparing standard care plus spinal manipulative therapy with standard care alone. Intention-to-treat analysis. Patients: Outpatients with acute low back pain. Setting: Emergency Department of Bern University Hospital and a primary care practice network.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

104

Conditions

Low Back Pain

Interventions

manipulative therapyPROCEDURE

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 20 YearsMax age: 55 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion criteria: 1. Age between 20 and 55 years 2. Duration of acute low back pain less than 4 weeks 3. Informed consent Exclusion criteria: 1. Pregnancy 2. Radicular origin of back pain (with irradiation) 3. Cauda equine syndrome 4. Neurologic deficit 5. Epidural glucocorticoid injections in the preceding three months 6. Previous low back surgery 7. Severe osteoporosis 8. Blood-coagulation disorder 9. Allergy to planned rescue medications 10. Suspicion of a specific cause of low back pain (fracture, tumor, infection, inflammatory disease of the spine, HIV-infection) in the patient's history or by physical examination 11. History or signs of severe dysfunction of the liver or kidney

Locations (1)

Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), University of Bern

Bern, Switzerland

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Back pain overall measured by a numeric rating scale(range 0 to 10)

Analgesic use based on daily equivalence doses (paracetamol, diclofenac and codeine)

Secondary Outcomes

Roland Morris Score

Serious adverse events

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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