http://www.terapianeural.com/articulos/17-de-la-practica/391-comparison-of-efficacy-of-neural-therapy-and-physical-therapy-in-chronic-low-back-pain

 

Comparison of Efficacy of Neural Therapy and Physical Therapy in Chronic Low Back Pain

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LOW BACK PAIN

Atalay, NS (1), Sahin, F (1), Atalay, A (2) and Akkaya, N (1)



(1) Pamukkale University Medical School, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Denizli, Turkey. (2) Denizli State Hospital, Clinic of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Denizli, Turkey

Citation: Atalay NS, Sahin F, Atalay A, Akkaya N. Comparison of efficacy of neural therapy and physical therapy in chronic low back pain. Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2013 Apr 12;10(3):431-5

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Abstract

The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the effects of neural therapy, and physical therapy on level of pain, disability, quality of life, and psychological status in patients with chronic low back pain. Patients admitted to the physical therapy and rehabilitation outpatient clinic with the complaint of low back pain of at least 3 months duration. Group 1 (n=27), physical therapy (PT, hotpack, ultrasound, TENS 15 sessions), group 2 (n=33), neural therapy (NT, 1:1 mixture of 20 mg/mL Lidocaine HCl (Jetokain simplex®) and saline for 5 sessions. For pain, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), for disability Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), for quality-of-life Nottingham-Health-Profile (NHP), for depression, and anxiety, Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale (HADS) were used before and after the treatment. Mean age was 47.3±11.32 years, symptom time was 13.78±11.98 months. There were no differences for demographic variables between groups. Significant improvements were detected for VAS, RMDQ, NHP-Pain, NHP-Physical activity, HADS for both of two groups after treatment. In addition to these findings, significant improvements were found for NHP-Energy, NHP-Social isolation in NT group. The differences of pre- and post-treatment values of parameters were evaluated for each group. Although there were no differences for VAS, NHP-sleep, NHP-Emotional reaction, HADS between groups, RMDQ, NHP-Pain, NHP-Physical activity, NHP-Social isolation were higher in NT than PT before treatment, the improvements for these parameters were better in NT than PT. In conclusion both of NT and PT are effective on pain, function, quality of life, anxiety, and depression in patients with chronic low back pain.

Keywords: chronic low back pain, physical therapy, neural therapy

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Ozone therapy as a treatment for low back pain secondary to herniated disc: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Magalhaes FN, Dotta L, Sasse A, Teixera MJ, Fonoff ET.

Source

Hospital das Clnicas, Department of Neurology, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil.


Abstract


BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common and important health problems affecting the population worldwide and remains mostly unsolved. Ozone therapy has emerged as an additional treatment method. Questions persist concerning its clinical efficacy.


OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the therapeutic results of percutaneous injection of ozone for low back pain secondary to disc herniation.


STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.


METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using all electronic databases from 1966 through September 2011. The quality of individual articles was assessed based on the modified Cochrane review criteria for randomized trials and criteria from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.


OUTCOME PARAMETERS: The outcome measure was short-term pain relief of at least 6 months or long-term pain relief of more than 6 months.


RESULTS: Eight observational studies were included in the systematic review and 4 randomized trials in the meta-analysis. The indicated level of evidence for long-term pain relief was II-3 for ozone therapy applied intradiscally and II-1 for ozone therapy applied paravertebrally. The grading of recommendation was 1C for intradiscal ozone therapy and 1B for paravertebral ozone therapy.


LIMITATIONS: The main limitations of this review are the lack of precise diagnosis and the frequent use of mixed therapeutic agents. The meta-analysis included mainly active-control trials. No placebo-controlled trial was found.


CONCLUSIONS: Ozone therapy appears to yield positive results and low morbidity rates when applied percutaneously for the treatment of chronic low back pain.

 

 

Oxygen/ozone treatment of herniated discs is an effective and extremely safe procedure. The estimated improvement in pain and function is impressive in view of the broad inclusion criteria, which included patients ranging in age from 13 to 94 years with all types of disc herniations. Pain and function outcomes are similar to the outcomes for lumbar discs treated with surgical discectomy, but the complication rate is much lower (<0.1%) and the recovery time is significantly shorter.


A metaanalysis of the effectiveness and safety of ozone treatments for herniated lumbar discs.

Steppan J, Meaders T, Muto M, Murphy KJ.


Source

ActiveO, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.


Abstract


PURPOSE:

To determine statistically significant effects of oxygen/ozone treatment of herniated discs with respect to pain, function, and complication rate.


MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Random-effects metaanalyses were used to estimate outcomes for oxygen/ozone treatment of herniated discs. A literature search provided relevant studies that were weighted by a study quality score. Separate metaanalyses were performed for visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and modified MacNab outcome scales, as well as for complication rate. Institutional review board approval was not required for this retrospective analysis.

 

RESULTS:

Twelve studies were included in the metaanalyses. The inclusion/exclusion criteria, patient demographics, clinical trial rankings, treatment procedures, outcome measures, and complications are summarized. Metaanalyses were performed on the oxygen/ozone treatment results for almost 8,000 patients from multiple centers. The mean improvement was 3.9 for VAS and 25.7 for ODI. The likelihood of showing improvement on the modified MacNab scale was 79.7%. The means for the VAS and ODI outcomes are well above the minimum clinically important difference and the minimum (significant) detectable change. The likelihood of complications was 0.064%.


CONCLUSIONS:

Oxygen/ozone treatment of herniated discs is an effective and extremely safe procedure. The estimated improvement in pain and function is impressive in view of the broad inclusion criteria, which included patients ranging in age from 13 to 94 years with all types of disc herniations. Pain and function outcomes are similar to the outcomes for lumbar discs treated with surgical discectomy, but the complication rate is much lower (<0.1%) and the recovery time is significantly shorter.