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| Bulent Ozturk - Osman Hakan Gunduz Kursat Ozoran - Sevinc Bostanoglu Effect of continuous lumbar traction on the size of herniated disc material in lumbar disc herniation Received: 16 November 2004 / Accepted: 28 July 2005 / Publishe online: 25 October 2005 © Springer-Veriag 2005 |
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| Abstract We investigated the effects of continuous lumbar traction in patients with lumbar disc herniation on clinical findings, and size of the herniated disc mesasured by computed tomography (CT). In the prospective, randomized, controlled study, 46 patients with lumbar disc herniation were included, and randomized into two groups as the traction group (24 patients), and the control group (22 patients). The traction group was given a physical therapy program and continuous lumbar traction. The control group was given he same therapy program without traction, for the same duration of time. Data for the clinical symptoms and signs were collected before and after the treatment together with calculation of herniation index, from the CT images that showed the size of the herniated disc material. In the traction group, most of the clinical findings significantly improved with treatment. Size of the herniated disc material in CT decreased significantly only in the traction group. In the traction group the herniation index decreased from 276.6 ± 129.6 to 212.5 ± 84.3 with treatment (p<0.01). In the control group, pretreatment value was 293.4 ± 112.1, and it decreased to 285.4 ± 115.4 after the treatment (p>0.05). Patients with greater herniations tended to respond ________________________________________ B. Ozturk K. Ozoran Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Institution of Origin, Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey O.H. Gunduz Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Marmara University School of Medicine, Barbaros Mahallesi, Veysi Pasa Sokak, Site 62, No; 18/21, Altunizade, Uskudar, 34662 Istanbul, Turkey Email: drhakang@hotmail.com Tel: +90-216-3263443 Fax: +90-216-3263444 S. Bostanoglu Department of Radiology, Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital, Institution of Origin, Ankara, Turkey |
better to traction. In conclusion, lumbar traction is both effective in improving symptoms and clinical findings in patients with lumbar disc herniation and also is decreasing the size of the herniated disc material as measured by CT. Keywords Lumbar disc herniation - Conservative treatment - Physical therapy - Traction - Computed tomography ________________________________________ Introduction Low back pain is quite common and effects 65 to 80% of the population. Disc herniations comprise about 5% of patients with back or low back pain [1, 2]. In the management of lumbar disc herniation, conservative treatment including physical therapy and lumbar traction is indicated and traction is an effective part of the treatment program [3-5]. However, the effects of traction on the herniated disc material are not known well. In this study, we investigated the effect of continuous traction in patients with lumbar disc herniation on the size of the herniated disc material on computer tomography (CT). ________________________________________ Materials and methods Forty-six patients (22 men and 24 women) who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of lumbar disc herniation participated in the study. The study was conducted according to good clinical practice guidelines and local ethics committee approval was obtained. Patients with the following criteria were included: (1) low back pain or sciatica due to lumbar disc herniation and L3-S1 radiculopathy; (2) duration of pain less than 6 months; (3) lumbar disc herniation verified by CT scan; (4) consistency in the pattern of pain complaint, neurological, and radiological findings; (5) no history of previous physical therapy in the past; (6) willing to take part in the study by signing a written informed consent. |
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