Comparison of the Effect of Lumbar Traction, Spinal Manipulation, and Surgery in the Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Terminated
- Enrollment
- 60
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- VAS pain score
Study Overview
Brief Summary
To compare the effect of lumbar traction, lumbar spinal manipulation and lumbar surgery in the treatment of LDH.
Detailed Description
Back pain is the second leading cause of work absenteeism (after upper respiratory tract complaints) and results in more lost productivity than any other medical condition. The lifetime prevalence of back pain exceeds 70% in most industrialized countries,and the 1-year prevalence for an episode of acute low back pain (LBP) has been estimated to be 65%. Sciatica is present in about 25% of those with LBP, and one of the major cause of sciatica is herniation of intervertebral disc (HIVD) of the lumbosacral spine or lumbar disc herniation (LDH). In the United Kindom, the estimated prevalence of LDH is from 1% to 3%. Although 95% of LBP patients recovered in 12 weeks, recurrent pain and disability were common and occurred in 12% over the 18-month observation period.
Disc herniation may be purely annular, purely nuclear, or consist of a combination of annular and nuclear tissues. Nuclear disc herniation track posteriorly between the anterior surface of the posterior longitudinal ligament and the posterior surfaces of the annulus and vertebral body and then into the spinal canal. Disc herniation may be described as protrusion or extrusion (or sequestration, if the displaced disc material has lost completely any continuity with the parent disc); contained or uncontained.
The usual presenting complaint is acute or chronic intermittent LBP with or without sciatica, which is radiating pain in a dermatomal distribution and classically described as a burning, stabbing, or electric sensation, sometimes accompanied with paresthesia. Central disc herniations or herniation that have migrated can each result in a mixed clinical picture or, alternately, signs of stenosis may predominate. The mechanism of pain is mutifactorial, involving mechanical stimulation of the nerve endings in the outer annulus, direct compression on the posterior longitudinal ligament, dura, or nerve root, and/or the chemical inflammatory cascade induced by the exposed nucleus pulposus or annulus fibrosis.The classic straight leg raising (SLR) test or Lasegue test is thought to be a useful clinical test to demonstrate an inflammatory compressive process across single or multiple spinal nerve roots.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the examination of choice for diagnosing LDHs.It has the advantage of having no known side effects or morbidity, no radiation exposure, and is noninvasive. The sensitivity and specificity of MRI in detecting annular tears, disc herniation, and nerve root swelling has been confirmed in several studies. MRI findings have been correlated to clinical findings and are strong predictors of surgical outcomes. However, morphological abnormalities demonstrated by MRI do not always reflect LBP or sciatica. MRI should be interpreted with consideration of full clinical signs, symptoms, and other relevant background.
Treatment of LDH consists of operative and non-operative treatments. Non-operative care of LDH includes a wide range of different methods: lumbar supports, bed rest, oral analgesics and muscle relaxants, lumbar traction, therapeutic exercise, spinal manipulation, epidural steroid injections, and behavioral therapy.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Non Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 20 Years to 80 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Age>20 and less than 80 y/o with LDH with moderate to severe (VAS pain > 4) LBP and/or sciatica. LDH should be proved by MRI of the lumbosacral spine. The duration of pain is less than 1 month.
Exclusion Criteria
- •LBP probable due to serious spinal pathology such as spinal tumor, infection, and inflammatory disease such as ankylosing spondylitis.28
- •LDH with progressive weakness in the lower extremities or symptoms and signs suggesting cauda equina lesion.
- •Concomitant serious medical conditions.
- •History of spinal surgery before.
- •Severe osteoporosis or image studies suggesting instability of the lumbosacral spine.
Arms & Interventions
lumbar traction
Treatment with lumbar traction is via an OPD base. It comprised a 20 min. treatment session over a period of 2 months. If the symptoms subside before the end of 2 months' treatment, lumbar traction will be discontinued, and the treatment duration and number of treatment session will be recorded. The frequency of treatment is 3 times per week. Treatment method is according to the common clinical guidelines, starting from 25% of the subject's body weight and steadily increasing to 50% of body weight. Before traction, heat therapy will be applied to the low back of the subject, and electric therapy will also be given to the painful areas. The treatment will be conducted by the same physiotherapist.
Intervention: lumbar traction (Device)
spinal manipulation
Spinal manipulation will be performed by a spinal manipulator (Dr. Tso-Liang Wang) who was graduated from Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. Before performing spinal manipulation, he will exam the patient's whole body throughly, especially focusing on the lumbo-pelvic-hip region. What he exams includes pelvic and spinal alignment, tension of soft tissues, tissue texture, joint mobility, movement patterns, and muscle power. The manipulation is started with release of the hypertonic myofascial structures and thus normalize the myofascial tension of the lumbo-pelvic-hip region. Then he will align the lumbar spine, pelvis and hip joint three-dimensionally according to the findings of his examination on the same day. The manipulation will be performed up to 8 times within one month (no more than 2 manipulations a week). If the symptoms subside before the end of one-month' treatment, the manipulation is discontinued and the number of treatment session will be recorded.
Intervention: spinal manipulation (Procedure)
surgery
General anesthesia, the patient will be put in the prone and abdomen-free position. A 4-cm midline longitudinal incision will be made over the spinous processes of the L3-5 levels. It will be deepened through the fat and fascia in line with the skin incision to reach the spinous processes.The paraspinous muscles will be dissected subperiosteally down the spinous processes and along the lamina to the facet joints. Laminectomy will be done carefully at the herniated disc level for posterior decompression. The ligamentum flavum will be excised to expose the dural sac.Using blunt dissection, the investigators carefully continue down the lateral side of the dura to the floor of the spinal canal; the investigators retract the dura and its nerve root medially. After the posterior aspect of the disc space is revealed, the affected disc will be removed and discotomy will be performed.The wound will be closed in the routine fashion after meticulous hemostasis and normal saline irrigation.
Intervention: surgery (Procedure)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
VAS pain score
Time Frame: Clinical evaluation will be conducted at pre-treatment, post-treatment day 7 and post-treatment 2 months after treatments.
an 10-cm horizontal line will be used to assess average pain intensity in the last 1 week
Secondary Outcomes
- Global impression of change(Clinical evaluation will be conducted at pre-treatment, post-treatment day 7 and post-treatment 2 months after treatments.)
- Modified Oswestry Disability Questionnaire (MODQ)(Clinical evaluation will be conducted at pre-treatment, post-treatment day 7 and post-treatment 2 months after treatments.)
- SF-36(Clinical evaluation will be conducted at pre-treatment, post-treatment day 7 and post-treatment 2 months after treatments.)