Evidence synthesis showed limited evidence supporting poor baseline transversus abdominis contraction thickness ratio as a treatment effect modifier favoring motor control exercise .
Limited evidence supported that high baseline transversus abdominis lateral slide was associated with higher pain intensity after various exercise interventions at 1-year follow-up .
However , there was limited evidence for the absence of relation between the contraction thickness ratio of transversus abdominis or anticipatory onset of lateral abdominal muscles at baseline and the short- or long-term LBP intensity after exercise interventions .
There was conflicting evidence for a relation between baseline percent thickness change of lumbar multifidus during contraction and the clinical outcomes of patients after various conservative treatments .
Although individual reports suggest that baseline morphometry or activity of transversus abdominis or lumbar multifidus predict clinical outcome of low back pain ( LBP ) , a related systematic review is unavailable .
Therefore , this review summarized evidence regarding the predictive value of these muscular characteristics .
Effect of Core Stability Exercises on Feed-Forward Activation of Deep Abdominal Muscles in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study Design . A r and omized controlled trial . Objective . To investigate feed-forward activation or timing of abdominal muscle activation in response to rapid shoulder flexion after 8 weeks with core stability exercises , sling exercises , or general exercises in chronic nonspecific low back pain ( LBP ) patients . Summary of Background Data . Delayed onset in abdominal muscles has been associated with LBP . Low load exercises to volitionally activate the transversus abdominis were introduced to restore trunk muscle activation deficits . More forceful co-contraction exercises have been advocated by others . This study explored whether abdominal muscle onset changed after low-load core stability exercises , high-load sling exercises , or general exercises . Methods . Subjects ( N = 109 ) with chronic nonspecific LBP of at least 3 months ' duration were r and omly assigned to 8 weekly treatments with low-load core stability exercises , high-load stabilizing exercises in slings , or general exercises in groups . Primary outcome was onset recorded bilaterally by m-mode ultrasound imaging in the deep abdominal muscles in response to rapid shoulder flexion . Results . No or small changes were found in onset after treatment . Baseline adjusted between group differences showed a 15 ms ( 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , 1–28 ; P = 0.03 ) and a 19 ms ( 95 % CI , 5–33 ; P < 0.01 ) improvement with sling relative to core stability and general exercises , respectively , but on 1 side only . There was no association between changes in pain and onset over the intervention period ( R2 ⩽ 0.02 ) . Conclusion . Abdominal muscle onset was largely unaffected by 8 weeks of exercises in chronic LBP patients . There was no association between change in onset and LBP . Large individual variations in activation pattern of the deep abdominal muscles may justify exploration of differential effects in subgroups of LBP
Evidence synthesis showed limited evidence supporting poor baseline transversus abdominis contraction thickness ratio as a treatment effect modifier favoring motor control exercise .
Limited evidence supported that high baseline transversus abdominis lateral slide was associated with higher pain intensity after various exercise interventions at 1-year follow-up .
However , there was limited evidence for the absence of relation between the contraction thickness ratio of transversus abdominis or anticipatory onset of lateral abdominal muscles at baseline and the short- or long-term LBP intensity after exercise interventions .
There was conflicting evidence for a relation between baseline percent thickness change of lumbar multifidus during contraction and the clinical outcomes of patients after various conservative treatments .
Although individual reports suggest that baseline morphometry or activity of transversus abdominis or lumbar multifidus predict clinical outcome of low back pain ( LBP ) , a related systematic review is unavailable .
Therefore , this review summarized evidence regarding the predictive value of these muscular characteristics .