Acute sciatica secondary to lumbar disc herniation may benefit from chiropractic spinal manipulation
October 8, 2018
LOS ANGELES — Results presented at the North American Spine Society Annual Meeting showed a small subgroup of patients with acute sciatica secondary to lumbar disc herniation may significantly benefit from chiropractic spinal manipulation therapy.
Paul B. Bishop , MD, PhD, DC, and colleagues randomly assigned 40 patients with acute sciatica secondary to lumbar disc herniation for fewer than 16 weeks duration to receive chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (n=20) or remain on the surgical waitlist (n=20) for 6 weeks. Researchers assessed standardized neurological and lumbar spine examinations, VAS and Roland Morris Disability scores and serum inflammatory cytokine levels at baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 24 weeks. Researchers also measured inflammatory cytokines in disc tissue, nerve root and disc lavagate during surgery.
In his presentation, Bishop noted 27 patients underwent surgery and 13 underwent chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy.
“The 13 patients that didn’t have surgery, [we] found a subset of [eight] patients who showed a significant improvement in their pain scores, disability scores and nerve root recovery scores,” Bishop said.
He added improvement after chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy was associated with longer duration of sciatica symptoms, low pain scores at baseline, absence of cross-over sign and motor deficit, low Schober’s test and low baseline serum cytokine levels. – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
Bishop PB, et al. Paper 148. Presented at: North American Spine Society Annual Meeting; Sept. 26-29, 2018; Los Angeles.
Disclosures: This study received funding from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health of the NIH. Bishop reports no relevant financial disclosures.