The Effect of Spinal Manipulation for Patients with Acute Low Back Pain

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of spinal manipulation for the patients with acute low back pain. METHOD: Twenty patients with acute low back pain have been received spinal manipulation 3 times per week. The 10-point scale and the distance of the fingertips from the floor on maximum forward flexion (fingertip-flexion test) were checked pretreatment, immediately posttreatment, 2 days posttreatment, 1 week posttreatment, and 2 weeks posttreatment. RESULTS: The results were as follows: 1) The 10-point scale at pretreatment, immediately posttreatment, 2 days posttreatment, 1 week posttreatment, and 2 weeks post-treatment were 10.0+/-0.0, 5.8+/-1.4, 2.2+/-1.0, 1.1+/-0.2, and 1.0+/-0.0, respectively (P<0.01). 2) The fingertip-flexion test at pretreatment, immediately posttreatment, 2 days posttreatment, 1 week posttreatment, 2 weeks posttreatment were 35.4+/-8.4 cm, 22.4+/-7.0 cm, 14.1+/-4.9 cm, 7.4+/-3.6 cm, and 5.4+/-4.6 cm, respectively (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: In our study, the spinal manipulation for the patients with acute low back pain offered significant efficacy and appeared to be a reasonable therapeutic option. But the effectiveness of this method leaves a critical aspect that should be dealt with in future studies.