Effects of Mechanical Versus Manual Traction in the Management of Low Back Pain.

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study compared the effects of mechanical and manual traction on pain, disability and lumbar spinal curvature in patients with discogenic low back pain

Official Title
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Effects of Mechanical Versus Manual Traction in the Management of Low Back Pain.

Conditions
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Low Back Pain, Low Back Pain, Mechanical, Disc Degeneration, Disc Prolapse, Disc Prolapse With Radiculopathy, Lumbar Radiculopathy

Intervention / Treatment
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* Procedure: Hot Pack
* Procedure: Manual Traction
* Procedure: Mechanical Traction
* Procedure: Joint Mobilization
* Procedure: TENS


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Patients with discogenic low back pain, Patients of both genders Age ranges from 20 to 60 years NPRS > 5 Exclusion Criteria: Patients with non-mechanical back pain Patients with known metabolic diseases, Osteoporotic patients, Recent history of spinal trauma or surgery, Lumbar myelopathy, Cauda equine syndrome.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 20 Years
Maximum Age: 60 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Manual Traction<br>Moist heat packs & TENS for ten minutes followed by Manual Traction and 3 sets of slow gentle segmental mobilizations (unilateral and posterior-anterior) with at least 10 to 15 repetitions firstly but modified as per the response of the patient. | Procedure: Hot Pack<br>* Superficial Heating<br>Procedure: Manual Traction<br>* Manual Traction for 10 minutes<br>Procedure: Joint Mobilization<br>* 3 sets of slow gentle segmental mobilizations (unilateral and posterior-anterior) with at least 10 to 15 repetitions<br>Procedure: TENS<br>* TENS for 10 minutes with hot pack<br>|
| Experimental: Mechanical traction<br>Moist heat packs & TENS for ten minutes followed by Mechanical Traction and 3 sets of slow gentle segmental mobilizations (unilateral and posterior-anterior) with at least 10 to 15 repetitions firstly but modified as per the response of the patient | Procedure: Hot Pack<br>* Superficial Heating<br>Procedure: Mechanical Traction<br>* Mechanical Traction for 10 minutes<br>Procedure: Joint Mobilization<br>* 3 sets of slow gentle segmental mobilizations (unilateral and posterior-anterior) with at least 10 to 15 repetitions<br>Procedure: TENS<br>* TENS for 10 minutes with hot pack<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Numeric Pain Rating Scale | Changes from base Line Numeric Pain rating scale is a scale for pain starting from 0-10. Where 0 indicate no pain and 10 indicate severe pain. | 6 weeks | 
| Oswestry disability index | Changes from base line The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) is an index derived from the Oswestry Low Back Pain Questionnaire used by clinicians and researchers to quantify disability for low back pain. Each topic category is followed by 6 statements describing different potential scenarios in the patient's life relating to the topic. The patient then checks the statement which most closely resembles their situation. Each question is scored on a scale of 0-5 with the first statement being zero and indicating the least amount of disability and the last statement is scored 5 indicating most severe disability. The scores for all questions answered are summed, then multiplied by two to obtain the index (range 0 to 100). Zero is equated with no disability and 100 is the maximum disability possible. | 6 weeks |