Active Visceral Manipulation Associated With Conventional Physiotherapy in People With Chronic Low Back Pain and...

The purpose of this study was to generate data for conduction of a power analysis to investigate short-term effects of visceral manipulation associated with conventional physical therapy on pain intensity, lumbar mobility, and functionality of people with chronic low back pain and visceral dysfunctions.

This was a double-blinded, randomized, controlled, clinical trial preliminary study. A blinded evaluation was conducted involving 20 people with chronic low back pain with visceral dysfunction. Pain perception, lumbar mobility, and functionality were assessed in 3 moments: evaluation 1 (1 week before the intervention), evaluation 2 (immediately after the last intervention), and evaluation 3 (1 week after the last intervention). The protocol consisted of 50-minute session of conventional physical therapy and visceral manipulation. The participants were randomly allocated to 2 groups: 10 for the experimental group (conventional physical therapy and visceral manipulation) and 10 for the control group (conventional physical therapy and placebo visceral manipulation).

Significant reductions were found in the experimental group for lumbar mobility and specific functionality in comparison with the control group (P < .05). There were no significant differences for pain perception and global functionality.

The combination of visceral manipulation and conventional physical therapy program demonstrated significant between-groups differences over time for lumbar spine mobility and specific functionality. These gains occurred after 5 sessions, once a week, and were maintained 1 week after the end of the treatment. This study generated data for conduction of a power analysis to inform the design for future clinical research in this line of inquiry.