A critical review of the role of manual therapy in the treatment of individuals with low back pain.

The number of low back pain (LBP) cases is projected to increase to more than 800 million by 2050. To address the substantial burden of disease associated with this rise in prevalence, effective treatments are needed. While clinical practice guidelines (CPG) consistently recommend non-pharmacological therapies as first-line treatments, recommendations regarding manual therapy (MT) in treating low back pain vary. The goal of this narrative review was to critically summarize the available evidence for MT behind these recommendations, to scrutinize its mechanisms of action, and propose some actionable steps for clinicians on how this knowledge can be integrated into a person-centered approach. Despite disparate recommendations from CPG, MT is as effective as other available treatments and may be offered to patients with LBP, especially as part of a treatment package with exercise and education. Most of the effects of MT are not specific to the technique. MT and other interventions share several mechanisms of action that mediate treatment success. These mechanisms can encompass patients' expectations, prior experiences, beliefs and convictions, epistemic trust, and nonspecific contextual effects. Although MT is safer than opioids for patients with LBP, this alone is insufficient. Our goal is to encourage clinicians to shift away from outdated and refuted ideas in MT and embrace a person-centered approach rooted in a comprehensive biopsychosocial framework while incorporating patients' beliefs, addressing illness behaviors, and seeking to understand each patient's journey.

Controversial Outcomes in Neck Rehabilitation between Surgically and Conservatively Treated Patients-Results of an Observational Study.

The present study aimed to compare changes during inpatient rehabilitation between conservatively and surgically treated patients. A total of n = 162 patients with cervical spine complaints were included in the study (n = 107 conservatively treated, n = 55 after surgery). Patients completed disease-specific (NDI) and generic (NPRS, EQ-5D-5L, HAQ) patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) before and after rehabilitation. In addition, the range of motion (ROM) in the transversal plane of the cervical spine was measured. Changes and correlations between PROMs and ROM values during rehabilitation were assessed. The influence of moderating factors on NDI outcomes was examined. Significant improvements with large effect sizes were found in PROMs and ROM (all p < 0.001). The conservatively treated patients showed significantly greater NDI improvements than operated patients (p = 0.050), but a greater proportion of poor performance in ROM (p = 0.035). Baseline NDI (ß = 0.66), HAQ (ß = 0.14), and ROM scores (ß = -0.17) explained 63.7% of the variance in NDI after rehabilitation. Both patient groups showed different outcomes. The findings of this study indicate that the unique needs of patients may require different therapeutic interventions and highlight the importance of using multidimensional outcome measures when implementing a multimodal rehabilitation approach.

Modifiable factors influencing length of stay after total knee arthroplasty.

PURPOSE: This cohort study aims to investigate the current Rapid-Recovery-(RR)-pathway at an orthopaedic surgery hospital centre and to identify preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors that are significantly associated with prolonged hospital Length of Stay (LOS) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHOD: A total of 194 patients undergoing primary TKA were included in this retrospective study. Sociodemographic data documented were age, gender, body mass index, living situation, and the clinical diagnosis. Factors affecting patient constitution and laboratory data for serum level of Hb and CRP were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively. In addition, we collected patients' data for attendance of patient education, planned discharge to rehabilitation facilities, and levels of postoperative pain. RESULTS: In univariate group comparisons, prolonged LOS was significantly associated with increased age, elevated C-reactive-Protein-level, and decreased haemoglobin level. Patients experiencing prolonged LOS also showed significant association with higher prevalence of comorbidities, female gender, living as widow, preoperative anticoagulation, requirement of blood transfusion, and planned discharge to rehabilitation facilities. However, after multivariate logistic regression, only planned discharge to rehabilitation facility, non-attendance of preoperative patient education, female gender, and increased pain levels were identified as significant predictors for prolonged LOS. CONCLUSION: Efficient pain therapy and thorough patient education have a positive effect on treatment outcome after TKA in a RR-setting.

Variation in the utilisation of physiotherapy in patients with advanced knee osteoarthritis prior to total knee arthroplasty a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Due to demographic changes and increasing knee osteoarthritis (KOA) prevalence, the incidence of total knee arthroplasties (TKA) is constantly rising. Clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of KOA unanimously recommend non-surgical interventions such as exercise, education, and weight reduction in overweight patients. The aim of this systematic review is to determine the proportion of patients with end-stage KOA who attended physiotherapy (PT) prior to TKA. METHODS: A systematic literature search was carried out in the medical databases MEDLINE (via Pubmed), PEDro, and EBSCO in August of 2022. Studies were included regardless of their design, if they reported the proportion of patients with a diagnosis of primary KOA, who participated in PT prior to undergoing TKA. Study quality assessment was performed by two independent authors using the Joanna Briggs Institutes Checklist for studies reporting prevalence data. Results were presented by using a narrative synthesis. RESULTS: Eighteen studies, comprising 579,718 patients, were identified in this systematic review. PT utilisation prior to TKA ranged from 10% to 73% for patients with advanced KOA. Only two studies showed PT utilisation rates of 60% or higher. Female gender, higher income, better socioeconomic status, higher education levels, older age were associated with PT utilisation. Data for other predicting factors was conflicting. DISCUSSION: This review shows substantial variation in the utilisation of PT in patients with end-stage KOA. This is concerning, considering the uniform recommendation from clinical practice guidelines for non-surgical treatments like exercise and education in patients with KOA, which are mostly provided by physiotherapists.