Preliminary Feasibility Study to Measure the Immediate Changes of Bilateral Asymmetry After Lumbar Spinal...

The purpose of this preliminary study was to assess the feasibility of a study to measure the immediate changes in bilateral asymmetry on physical performance tests before and after lumbar spinal manipulative therapy (SMT).

Thirteen asymptomatic athletes participated in this study. Each participant underwent a clinical and physical evaluation for inclusion according to eligibility criteria. Assessments were performed in all participants and included a physical test symmetry sequence (static standing position, squat, and countermovement jump) before and after lumbar SMT intervention. The immediate changes were quantitatively measured from before to after intervention by statistical calculations.

All recruited participants completed the study, and none of them reported complaints during participation. Statistically significant differences between before and after lumbar SMT were found only for static symmetry (respectively, mean = 14.4% and 3.7%), not for squatting or the countermovement jump.

According our sample characteristics, asymptomatic athlete participants, presented initially bilateral asymmetry values, such as described in the literature, and after lumbar SMT, these values decreased significantly in static posture. This preliminary study demonstrates the feasibility to measure the pre-to-post changes in symmetry after lumbar SMT intervention. The results showed a great decrease in bilateral symmetry on static symmetry percentage, but none in dynamic tests, which deserves further investigation. Nevertheless, this preliminary study demonstrated the feasibility of measuring the immediate changes in symmetry produced by lumbar SMT, and of a larger study to measure whether lumbar SMT changes symmetry.