CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN;

Abstract

Background: Worldwide prevalence of chronic low back pain is 19.6% in thoseaged between 20-59 years and more prevalent in women. Routine physiotherapy appears to beeffective in reducing pain and improving functional outcome in chronic low back pain patients.Lumbar stabilization exercises are trending in the management of chronic low back pain thoughit is not known whether addition of these exercises produce better results as compared to routinephysiotherapy alone. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of thelumbar stabilization exercises on pain, ROM and functional disability in the management ofchronic low back pain. A randomized control trial. Period: February 2016 to July 2016. Setting:Rehab & Research Center, Pakistan Railway General Hospital. Methodology: 42 chronic lowback pain patients (02 drop outs, one from each group). The participants were recruited throughpurposive sampling technique. Random allocation was done through coin toss method into twogroups Lumbar Stabilization Exercise (LSE) group (n=20) and Conventional Physiotherapy(CPT) group (n=20). Tools used to collect data were NPRS, Modified ODI, Goniometer (LumbarFlexion, Extension and Side bendings) and MMT (Trunk Flexors and Extensors). The data wasanalyzed (n=40) at baseline and later after 2 weeks of intervention (8 sessions) on IBM SPSS-20. Results: 28 females and 12 males participated in the study with mean age of 38.88 ±12.69.After 02 weeks of intervention both treatment groups showed improvement in decreasing painand improving functional status. LSE group had significant gains in NPRS p=0.001, ModifiedODI p=0.001, ROM Extension p= 0.027, ROM Right side bend p= 0.024 and MMT Flexion p=0.031 as compared to CPT group. Conclusion: Lumbar stabilization exercises in addition toconventional physiotherapy are found more effective in chronic low back pain managementas compared to conventional physiotherapy alone in terms of reducing pain and functionaldisability.