Effectiveness of Two Electrotherapy Techniques to Treat Chronic Low Back Pain
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 已完成
- 发起方
- 入组人数
- 60
- 试验地点
- 2
- 主要终点
- The straight leg raise (SLR)
研究概览
简要总结
Objective: The aim of this investigation was compare the effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and interferential currents (IC) on chronic low back pain. Forty-eight patients diagnosed as having chronic low back pain were randomly assigned to three groups: control (sham electrotherapy; age 47 ± 8 years), interferential currents (IC; age 48 ± 8 years) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS; age 48 ± 8 years). Patients in all groups received 12 × 30-min sessions of the assigned treatment for a period of 4 weeks plus therapeutic exercises. Before and after the treatment, low back pain was measured using a 100-mm visual analogue scale and functional disability level was measured using the Rolland Morris Disability Questionnaire. Participants status was followed up 3 months after the end of the treatment.
详细描述
Subjects
The subjects for this study were recruited from a waiting list at the Almendrales Physiotherapy Center (Madrid, Spain). Potential participants had to be older than 18 years and present continuous low back pain for more than 12 weeks. Potential participants were then examined by an independent specialist and the diagnosis of LBP was made according the medical diagnosis, the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMQD)24 and an X-ray. With these inclusion criteria, a total of 96 patients were contacted to participate in the experiment. Twenty-one participants were excluded because they fulfilled one or several of the following exclusion criteria: individuals presenting trauma, disc disease or lumbosciaticas; individuals who were receiving pain-relieving treatments with another physiotherapy method at the same time; patients with previous surgery or intra-articular injections; individuals with contraindications against electrotherapy; and declined to participate.
Treatment groups
The experimental design was a randomized, double-blind sham-controlled clinical trial. After the preliminary examination, 48 patients were randomly assigned to three groups: control (sham electrotherapy), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and interferential currents (IC). A set of sealed and sequentially numbered opaque envelopes was used for group assignment. The study was double-blind because the examiner had no contact with the patient during the duration of the treatment and patients were not informed about the electrotherapy technique they received during the investigation.
Intervention
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Treatment
- 盲法
- Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 18 Years 至 60 Years（Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •The subjects for this study were recruited from a waiting list from patients with acute low back pain.
- •To be included in the list they had to be older than 18 years and have had unilateral shoulder pain for more than 12 weeks.
- •Potential participants were then examined by an independent specialist and the diagnosis of LBP was made according to the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire."
排除标准
- •The following participants were excluded from the investigation: individuals presenting trauma, disc disease or lumbosciaticas; individuals who were receiving pain-relieving treatments with another physiotherapy method at the same time; patients with previous surgery or intra-articular injections; individuals with contraindications against electrotherapy and those who declined to participate.
结局指标
主要结局
The straight leg raise (SLR)
时间窗: Change after 3 weeks of electrotherpy treatment
The straight leg raise (SLR) in both legs was also used to measure the range of motion of the leg. For this measurement, an inclinometer (Baseline, Enterprises Inc., USA) was applied to the anterior tibial tuberosity with the patient lying on a treatment stretcher. To prevent the external rotation of the hip, the contralateral leg was fixed with a strap to the stretcher. The examiner passively flexed the participant's hip with the knee fully extended until the subject felt tightness in the hamstring area or until the lower back was destabilized. The SLR (in degrees) was calculated separately for each leg by using one repetition.
Pressure pain threshold (PPT)
时间窗: Change after 3 weeks of electrotherpy treatment
Pressure pain threshold (PPT) was measured at the lumbosacral joint and at the right and left sacroiliac joints with the application of a pressure algometer (FPK 20, Wagner Instruments, USA) with a rubber tip of 1 cm2. The PPT recorded the maximal pressure (kg/cm2) applied until the participant perceived it as painful. The PPT measured at each location was repeated three times with 1 min of rest between repetitions. The average value of these 3 measurements was used for further analysis.
Functional status
时间窗: Change after 3 weeks of electrotherpy treatment
The functional status of each individual was measured using the Rolland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) before and after 3 weeks of eletrotherapy treatment. The RMDQ is a simple, fast and valid questionnaire to assess the LBP disability. It consists of 24 items that reflect limitation in different activities of daily living attributed by the patient to low back pain. Each item receives a score of 1 point, so the RMDQ score ranges between 0 (no disability) and 24 points (the maximum possible disability)
Perceptual evaluation of low back pain
时间窗: Change after 3 weeks of electrotherpy treatment
The intensity of low back pain was evaluated before and after 3 weeks of electrotherpy treatment by using a 100-mm visual analogue pain scale (VAS)
次要结局
未报告次要终点