Abstract
(1) Background: Management of chronic low back pain (cLBP) is often multidisciplinary, involving a combination of treatments, including therapeutic exercises. Core stability exercises aim to improve pain and disability in cLBP increasing spinal stability, neuromuscular control, and preventing shear force that causes injury to the lumbar spine. The purpose of this study was to review the available evidence about the effectiveness in reducing pain and improving disability of core stability exercises for non-specific cLBP. (2) Methods: We perform a systematic research on common Medline databases: PubMed, Pedro, and Cochrane Library. Search results were limited to articles written in English and published between January 2005 and November 2020.The search provided a total of 420 articles. Forty-nine articles met the inclusion criteria and 371 articles were excluded. (3) Results: Core stability provides great therapeutic effects in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain reducing pain intensity, functional disability, and improving quality of life, core muscle activation, and thickness. Evidences suggest that core stability is more effective than rest or no/minimal intervention and combination with other types of exercise for cLBP have shown grater efficacy. (4) Conclusion: Core stability could be proposed in a comprehensive approach in cLBP, the combination with other modalities of therapeutic exercise should be promoted. Patient compliance is crucial to determine the efficacy of the intervention.
Highlights
Low back pain (LBP) is an extremely common condition with a lifetime prevalence reported to be as high as about 80% [1]
(4) Conclusion: Core stability could be proposed in a comprehensive approach in chronic low back pain (cLBP), the combination with other modalities of therapeutic exercise should be promoted
- Articles published in English, - Study population aged between 18 years and 80 years, - Randomized controlled trial, meta-analysis, and systematic review on core stability in the management of non-specific chronic low back pain
Summary
Low back pain (LBP) is an extremely common condition with a lifetime prevalence reported to be as high as about 80% [1]. About 5–10% of patients develop chronic pain (cLBP), responsible for high direct (health care) and indirect (lost production and lost household productivity) costs and high individual suffering and disability [2,3,4]. LBP is a multifactorial condition that develops as result of the interaction of several risk factors: constitutional risk factors (genetic predisposition, persons ages 40–80 years, and female sex), occupational risk factors (excessive static or dynamic loading, high number of lifts at work, vibrations, repeated torsion and bending movements, incorrect postures), behavioral and environmental factors (smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle), and psychosocial factors (stress, anxiety, depression, and work dissatisfaction) [4,6]. The use of kinesiotaping could be proposed beside manipulation and exercise considering its possible positive effects on posture and pain [7,8]
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