Clinical trial NCT02757378: Manual Therapy as a Form of Sensory Discrimination in Chronic Low Back Pain
Official title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Manual Therapy as a Form of Sensory Discrimination in Chronic Low Back Pain
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Low Back Pain
Keywords: Pain
Brain
Plasticity
Education
Manual Therapy
Straight Leg Raise
Remapping
Lead sponsor: St. Ambrose University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2016-05-02
Enrollment: 62
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study evaluates whether different explanations given to patients with long lasting back pain influence a physical therapy treatment technique. Half of the patients will receive an explanation of the proposed treatment technique focusing on how their joints are moving and not moving. The second half of the group will receive the same treatment technique as the first group, but their explanation of the technique's purpose will focus on how their brain interprets the information. The study aims to determine if patients have a different response to the treatment based on the words chosen to explain the technique.

Detailed description: Traditional treatment provided by physical therapists to patients with chronic low back pain focuses on the biomechanical or anatomical impact to local tissues. Recent research has shown that treatment effects may be more related to the understanding of the structural and functional changes in the brain of someone suffering from chronic low back pain. This research implicates that the patients understanding and interpretation of input to the brain may change the patient's perceived representation and interpretation of output of pain within the brain.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Adults over the age of 18
* Presenting at Physical Therapy with a primary complaint of Low Back Pain
* Low Back Pain being present for 6 months or more
* Fluent in English and willing to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Medical precautions to the use of manual therapy (metal, skin lesions, etc.)
* Prior spine surgery
* Unable to lay prone for the treatment.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Low back pain rating change
timeFrame: Within a single, one hour session
measure: Leg pain rating
timeFrame: Within a single, one hour session
measure: Active trunk forward flexion
timeFrame: Within a single, one hour session
measure: Straight Leg Raise
timeFrame: Within a single, one hour session
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Moline
country: United States
facility: Rock Valley Physical Therapy
state: Illinois
city: Silvis
country: United States
facility: Rock Valley Physical Therapy
state: Illinois
city: Woodridge
country: United States
facility: Edward Health & Fitness Center & Spa at Seven Bridges
state: Illinois
city: Davenport
country: United States
facility: Rock Valley Physical Therapy
state: Iowa
city: Davenport
country: United States
facility: Genesis Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine
state: Iowa
Study officials:
affiliation: International Spine Pain Institute
name: Adriaan Louw, PT, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: