Active clinical trials for "Low Back Pain"

The aim of this clinical trial is to develop and test the effectiveness of a smartphone app-based self-management program based on exercise and pain education for police officers and firefighters with chronic low back pain.

The purpose of the study is to compare between the combined effect of thoracic lymphatic pump technique with exercises and exercises alone on pain intensity using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), lumbar spine mobility using Modified-Modified Schober test (MMST) and functional disability level using Oswestary Disability Index (ODI) on patients with CMLBP.

Low back pain is a common condition that occurs in up to 70% of the population in industrialized countries and is the second most common cause of work inability. Physiotherapy is the usual treatment for low back pain. Recent studies showed that combining theory-based psychological methods with physiotherapy can enhance the effectiveness of physiotherapy treatment for people with chronic low back pain. One promising approach to treating chronic pain is PACT - Physiotherapy informed by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy. PACT aims to increase psychological flexibility and focus on improving function rather than reducing pain. According to several studies, the effects of ACT can be maintained up to 3 years post-treatment, which is essential in a condition such as chronic pain and its typical relapses. According to self-determination theory (SDT), facilitating an environment of acceptance and autonomy support enhances treatment motivation, thus offering a good interface for applying SDT´s research concepts to ACT interventions. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the impact of physiotherapists´ autonomy-supportive behavior within PACT on the motivation process in chronic low back pain patients. Other objectives are to evaluate the efficacy of PACT on the functioning and disability due to CLBP, adherence to recommended physical activity, and the acceptance of pain. This prospective, randomized controlled trial will include 2 treatment groups (PACT treatment group and Usual physiotherapy Care group[UC]) in 1:1 ratio. Participants in the PACT treatment group will undergo a physiotherapy intervention guided by ACT principles. Participants randomized to UC will receive treatment considered suitable by their treating physiotherapist, including exercises based on the DNS concept and manual therapy. Regardless of group assignment, all participants will undergo 6 physiotherapy face-to-face interventions lasting 45 minutes, each once a week. Study outcomes will include measures of treatment motivation, perceived degree of autonomy support within the care settings, functioning, and disability, adherence to recommended physical activity, and acceptance of pain. While we acknowledge the value of usual physiotherapy care, CLBP is best suited to a biopsychosocial model for care. Further research is needed to understand which underlying processes and components are causing the improvement.

Identify the efficacy of difference procedures of imaging guidance for needles for interventional treatments of low back pain (LBP) associated with sciatica and to study results and satisfaction of the patients between different groups.

The purpose of this study is to examine the acute and chronic effects of high frequency electrical current transfer (frequently called "TECAR") on pain and functional movement in individuals with a musculoskeletal injury or pain. The participants will be assigned into an experimental or a control group and outcome measures will be measured prior to, after, 24 and 48 hours following a single intervention session (Acute effects) as well as 3 and 6 months after the intervention (chronic effects).

The objective of this study is to verify which is the most effective type of rehabilitation treatment (rehabilitation based on core strengthening vs pilates) in patients suffering from low back pain. The secondary objective is to verify whether the use of Kinesio Tape (KT) associated with rehabilitation treatment can have greater effects in the motor and functional recovery of patients suffering from Low Back Pain than traditional rehabilitation.

The prevalence of low back pain is approximately 49% to 90%, and that 25% of patients seeking treatment for low back pain have a recurrence within the first year. Chronic non-specific low back pain is the most common of all types of pain, not being attributed to a specific pathological cause and with a minimum pain duration of 12 weeks. Forty percent of subjects with acute low back pain will develop chronic low back pain. Exercise is recommended for the treatment of chronic low back pain because of significant improvements in pain and disability over other therapies, but the evidence is low in the treatment of subacute or acute pain, as exercise appears to be equally effective over rest. Motor control is based on the contraction of the deep and stabilising muscles of the lumbar spine (multifidus and transverse abdominis), performing simple voluntary contraction exercises and increasing (without losing this contraction) their difficulty and functionality. At the beginning, the patient must be able to maintain the isometric contraction of the deep muscles while breathing normally. On the other hand, there is great difficulty in voluntarily contracting the multifidus muscles, especially for subjects with chronic non-specific low back pain, where arthrogenic inhibition hinders their contraction. The application of ultrasound as feedback may help patients to correctly contract this musculature. Our main objective in the study will be to measure and compare pain, disability, global impression of effect, in patients with non-specific mechanical chronic low back pain after applying a motor control exercise programme with and without ultrasound feedback. In addition, the investigators will compared this type of exercise with a conventional exercise programme.

The BEST Trial (Biomarkers for Evaluating Spine Treatments) is a NIAMS-sponsored clinical trial being conducted through the NIH HEAL Initiative's Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) Research Program. The primary objective of this trial is to inform a precision medicine approach to the treatment of Chronic Low-Back Pain by estimating an algorithm for optimally assigning treatments based on an individual's phenotypic markers and response to treatment. Interventions being evaluated in this trial are: (1) enhanced self-care (ESC), (2) acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), (3) evidence-based exercise and manual therapy (EBEM), and (4) duloxetine.

The overall aim of the present study is to compare two different psychological methods, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Graduated Exposure in vivo (EXP) in the treatment of chronic back pain with regard to effectiveness and improvement of pain related disability. Exploratory research will also be conducted to identify predictors of which patient groups benefit more from which method. This should optimise treatment options and create effective treatment offers for subgroups of pain patients. Exposure therapy is an effective and economical treatment modality and was shown in a previous pilot study to be superior to CBT in reducing perceived movement limitation. CBT, on the other hand, appeared to be more effective in establishing coping strategies. With the help of the current study it should be possible to compare the effectiveness of both treatment methods and, in perspective, to identify those patient groups that benefit from exposure therapy and thus create a tailor-made treatment programme for subgroups of pain patients. A total of 380 patients (age: ≥ 18) with chronic back pain and a sufficient degree of impairment will be included and analysed in the study.

The objective of this study will be to identify whether a conditioning procedure by the surreptitious downgrade of a noxious stimulus intensity associated with induced positive expectations about treatment will result in greater hypoalgesic effects when compared to positive verbal suggestions (positive expectation induction) alone regarding the effects of spinal manipulative therapy intervention in patients with CLBP. This study will enroll 264 individuals with CLBP aged between 18 and 60 years. Spinal Manipulative Therapy in the lumbar spine will be administered to all participants during 5 sessions. First assessment session - participants will be submitted to a quantitative sensory testing (QST) to determine the heat pain threshold (calibration test) to run the conditioning procedure. Afterward, participants will be allocated by a blinded researcher into the following subgroups: hidden conditioning + positive expectation (G1); positive expectation alone (G2) and a group submitted to neutral expectations (G3) about the treatment. First treatment session - Firstly, participants will receive instructions with the aim to induce positive (or neutral) expectations by means of a workshop. Secondly, all the participants will be submitted again to the pre-conditioning test, using the more intense pain stimulus obtained in the calibration test, then patients will be assessed regarding pain intensity and finally submitted to the manipulative therapy. At the end of the first treatment session, the conditioning test will be repeated, but the heat pain threshold of the hidden conditioning group (G1) will be surreptitiously downgraded (from intense pain stimulus to moderate pain stimulus) as a means of conditioning patients to believe that manipulative therapy promoted pain relief. Pain intensity will be assessed again to confirm a decrease in pain intensity. Outcomes will be assessed three times: immediately after the five therapy sessions, one month later, and three months later. The primary outcomes assessed will be pain intensity and global perceived effect of improvement. The secondary outcome will be low back pain disability.