Strengthening Exercise and Activities of Daily Living Instructions for Patients With Lumbar Disc Herniation

Chittagong Medical College

Status: Completed

Conditions: Lumbar Disc Herniation

Treatments: Other: Strengthening exercises; Behavioral: Activities to daily living instructions; Other: Hot compression; Drug: Pharmacological therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05021718

LDH exercise

Details and patient eligibility

About

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is one of the most common causes of mechanical low back pain (LBP) associated with radiating leg pain. Conservative treatment, including exercise, analgesic, and physical therapy, is regarded as the first-line treatment of LDH.

This randomized clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of back and hip strengthening exercises combined with activities of daily living instructions (ADLIs) to reduce pain intensity in patients with LDH.

Full description

A total of 70 patients with LDH were randomly allocated to either the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG). Patients in IG received different back and hip strengthening exercises five days a week for six weeks. The patients in CG were treated with Naproxen (500 mg) and Baclofen (10 mg) tablet twice a day for three weeks, followed by hot moist compression for the next three weeks. In addition, the patients in both groups were instructed to follow the ADLIs during the intervention and at least 3 months after the intervention.

The straight leg raising (SLR) test and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score were used to evaluate the patients' pain intensity. Outcomes were measured at baseline, at three weeks, and six weeks of the intervention. Patients were followed up after 3 months of the intervention.

Enrollment: 70 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 59 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age: 18 - 59 years.
• Clinically diagnosed LDH that was confirmed by MRI.
• Duration of the pain: ≥ 3 months

Exclusion criteria

• Painful spinal deformity
• Cauda equina syndrome
• Progressive neurological signs and/or muscle-wasting
• History of spinal surgery, spine fracture, scoliosis, tuberculosis, and tumours.
• Treated with epidural injections.
• Pregnancy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

70 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention group (IG)

Experimental group

Description:

A total of 35 patients in IG received different back and hip strengthening exercises five times a week for six weeks. They were also instructed to follow the ADLIs to perform different tasks at home and in workplaces during the intervention and at least 3 months after the intervention.

Treatment:

Other: Strengthening exercises

Behavioral: Activities to daily living instructions

Control group (CG)

Active Comparator group

Description:

The remaining 35 patients were allocated to CG. The patients in CG were treated with Naproxen (500 mg) and Baclofen (10 mg) tablet twice a day for three weeks, followed by hot moist compression for the next three weeks. Moreover, they were instructed to follow the ADLIs to perform different tasks at home and in workplaces during the intervention and at least 3 months after the intervention.

Treatment:

Drug: Pharmacological therapy

Behavioral: Activities to daily living instructions

Other: Hot compression