A randomized controlled trial to determine the effect of spinal stabilization exercise intervention based on pain level and standing balance differences in patients with low back pain

BACKGROUND A number of studies have evaluated exercise interventions compared with other treatment strategies for subjects with recurrent low back pain (LBP); however, subject pain level and balance were not carefully considered. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of spinal stabilization exercises (SSE) for managing pain and increasing balance strategy changes following unexpected perturbations in patients diagnosed with recurrent LBP. MATERIAL/METHODS Twenty-one age- and gender-matched patients participated in a supervised SSE or control exercise program 5 times a week over a 4-week period. The Million Visual Analogue Scale (MVAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were used to measure each patient's level of pain and disability. Balance measurements were derived from recordings of the anterior-posterior (A/P) and medio-lateral (M/L) center of pressure (COP) displacements during 3 consecutive, unexpected random perturbations. RESULTS The level of reported pain and disability significantly decreased following treatment for both groups. Although the M/L sway was not significantly different in either group (p=0.86), there was a significant difference between group and measurement time during A/P sway (p=0.04). The A/P displacement of the SSE group significantly decreased compared with the control group. The decreased A/P displacement can be linked to the SSE intervention, which helps prevent further injury by limiting an individual's response rate to external perturbations. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians might consider SSE for LBP patients as a possible rehabilitation strategy to reduce A/P displacement.