measurINg forceS durInG cHiropractic Treatment (INSIGHT)

Palmer College of Chiropractic

Status: Completed

Conditions: Low Back Pain

Treatments: Other: Flexion-Distraction (non-thrust) spinal manipulation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02409797

INSIGHT-2015V164

Details and patient eligibility

About

The INSIGHT pilot study will measure forces applied by a doctor of chiropractic (DC) during the delivery of a specific, manually based chiropractic treatment for participants with low back pain.

Full description

Low back pain (LBP) is a well-recognized health problem. One common manual therapy available for the treatment of LBP is spinal manipulation (SM), which can be separated into 2 categories: High-Velocity Low-Amplitude (thrust) and Low-Velocity (non-thrust) SM according to their force-delivery profiles. One commonly utilized non-thrust SM technique is the Flexion-Distraction procedure. Several studies have reported manually applied forces during thrust SM; however, the forces used during non-thrust SM, specifically those used with Flexion-Distraction treatment are still unknown. The results of this pilot study will provide preliminary information on treatment forces and sample size justification for future full-scale trials, while also ascertaining the feasibility of the study protocol and patient recruitment methods for such trials.

Enrollment: 12 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Able to demonstrate the necessary abilities (English language, literacy) needed to provide informed consent without the assistance of another person (e.g., a proxy, spouse, family member or other support person)
• Self-reported low back pain (acute, subacute or chronic) at the time of examination and enrollment

Exclusion criteria

• Weight > 300lbs
• Spinal Pathology or conditions contraindicating study procedures or compromising participant safety
• Inflammatory arthropathy involving the spine (e.g. Ankylosing spondylitis, Rheumatoid arthritis)
• Spinal fracture in the past 6 months
• Other conditions requiring referral (e.g. self-reporting alcohol/substance dependence or abuse, unstable spinal segments, and cauda equina syndrome)
• Pregnant or planning to become pregnant within the next 5 weeks
• Unable to tolerate study procedures safely
• Altered Mental Capacity
• Sensitivity to adhesives used in the study
• Uncontrolled hypertension
• Co-morbidity requiring simultaneous clinical management that compromises ability to deliver study procedures or assess the participant's heath status or poses as a scheduling burden
• Retention of legal advice or seeking a health-related insurance claim
• Compliance concerns (e.g. scheduling conflicts, moving from the quad city area, unwilling to undergo required study procedures or receive treatment from study doctor(s))
• Quebec Task Force Classification of 10 or 11: (chronic pain syndrome, visceral/infectious source of LBP)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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12 participants in 1 patient group

Flexion-Distraction spinal manipulation

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive Flexion-Distraction treatment from a licensed doctor of chiropractic. During the procedure the participant lies prone on a specially designed treatment table. The table is equipped with a movable lower body section, which can be directed by the study doctor to lower the participants legs, move them from side to side, or in a traction motion. Table movements can occur in combination with other motions, depending on the diagnosis and characteristics specific to the participant's condition. During this procedure, the doctor will also touch the lower or upper part of the participants back or neck with their hands to direct treatment toward specific spinal regions.

Treatment:

Other: Flexion-Distraction (non-thrust) spinal manipulation