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Pain relief is associated with decreasing postural sway in patients with non-specific low back pain.
BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2012 Mar 21; 13:39.BM

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Increased postural sway is well documented in patients suffering from non-specific low back pain, whereby a linear relationship between higher pain intensities and increasing postural sway has been described. No investigation has been conducted to evaluate whether this relationship is maintained if pain levels change in adults with non-specific low back pain.

METHODS

Thirty-eight patients with non-specific low back pain and a matching number of healthy controls were enrolled. Postural sway was measured by three identical static bipedal standing tasks of 90 sec duration with eyes closed in narrow stance on a firm surface. The perceived pain intensity was assessed by a numeric rating scale (NRS-11). The patients received three manual interventions (e.g. manipulation, mobilization or soft tissue techniques) at 3-4 day intervals, postural sway measures were obtained at each occasion.

RESULTS

A clinically relevant decrease of four NRS scores in associated with manual interventions correlated with a significant decrease in postural sway. In contrast, if no clinically relevant change in intensity occurred (≤ 1 level), postural sway remained similar compared to baseline. The postural sway measures obtained at follow-up sessions 2 and 3 associated with specific NRS level showed no significant differences compared to reference values for the same pain score.

CONCLUSIONS

Alterations in self-reported pain intensities are closely related to changes in postural sway. The previously reported linear relationship between the two variables is maintained as pain levels change. Pain interference appears responsible for the altered sway in pain sufferers. This underlines the clinical use of sway measures as an objective monitoring tool during treatment or rehabilitation.

Links

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Ruhe A
Murdoch University, Praxis fuer Chiropraktik Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany. alexander_ruhe@hotmail.com
Fejer R
No affiliation info available
Walker B
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdultBiomechanical PhenomenaCase-Control StudiesHumansLow Back PainManipulation, ChiropracticMiddle AgedMusculoskeletal ManipulationsPain MeasurementPhysical Therapy ModalitiesPostural BalanceSelf ReportSeverity of Illness IndexTime FactorsTreatment Outcome

Pub Type(s)

Controlled Clinical Trial
Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22436337

Citation

Ruhe, Alexander, et al. "Pain Relief Is Associated With Decreasing Postural Sway in Patients With Non-specific Low Back Pain." BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, vol. 13, 2012, p. 39.
Ruhe A, Fejer R, Walker B. Pain relief is associated with decreasing postural sway in patients with non-specific low back pain. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2012;13:39.
Ruhe, A., Fejer, R., & Walker, B. (2012). Pain relief is associated with decreasing postural sway in patients with non-specific low back pain. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 13, 39. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-13-39
Ruhe A, Fejer R, Walker B. Pain Relief Is Associated With Decreasing Postural Sway in Patients With Non-specific Low Back Pain. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2012 Mar 21;13:39. PubMed PMID: 22436337.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Pain relief is associated with decreasing postural sway in patients with non-specific low back pain. AU - Ruhe,Alexander, AU - Fejer,René, AU - Walker,Bruce, Y1 - 2012/03/21/ PY - 2011/10/23/received PY - 2012/03/21/accepted PY - 2012/3/23/entrez PY - 2012/3/23/pubmed PY - 2012/8/9/medline SP - 39 EP - 39 JF - BMC musculoskeletal disorders JO - BMC Musculoskelet Disord VL - 13 N2 - BACKGROUND: Increased postural sway is well documented in patients suffering from non-specific low back pain, whereby a linear relationship between higher pain intensities and increasing postural sway has been described. No investigation has been conducted to evaluate whether this relationship is maintained if pain levels change in adults with non-specific low back pain. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with non-specific low back pain and a matching number of healthy controls were enrolled. Postural sway was measured by three identical static bipedal standing tasks of 90 sec duration with eyes closed in narrow stance on a firm surface. The perceived pain intensity was assessed by a numeric rating scale (NRS-11). The patients received three manual interventions (e.g. manipulation, mobilization or soft tissue techniques) at 3-4 day intervals, postural sway measures were obtained at each occasion. RESULTS: A clinically relevant decrease of four NRS scores in associated with manual interventions correlated with a significant decrease in postural sway. In contrast, if no clinically relevant change in intensity occurred (≤ 1 level), postural sway remained similar compared to baseline. The postural sway measures obtained at follow-up sessions 2 and 3 associated with specific NRS level showed no significant differences compared to reference values for the same pain score. CONCLUSIONS: Alterations in self-reported pain intensities are closely related to changes in postural sway. The previously reported linear relationship between the two variables is maintained as pain levels change. Pain interference appears responsible for the altered sway in pain sufferers. This underlines the clinical use of sway measures as an objective monitoring tool during treatment or rehabilitation. SN - 1471-2474 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/22436337/Pain_relief_is_associated_with_decreasing_postural_sway_in_patients_with_non_specific_low_back_pain_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -