NCT00934284

Effectiveness Study of Physical Therapy as an Adjunct to a Lumbar Therapeutic Selective Nerve Root Block

Effectiveness of Physical Therapy as an Adjunct to a Selective Nerve Root Block in the Treatment of Lumbar Radicular Pain From Disk Herniation

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 44 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Utah · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if participation in physical therapy in conjunction with a selective nerve root block in the lumbar spine is more effective than just receiving the injection alone for patients with low back and leg pain from a disk herniation (sciatica).

Detailed description

Recent reviews report moderate to strong evidence for short-term relief but limited evidence for long-term improvement. Anecdotal reports and case studies suggest good outcomes with various physical therapy interventions however well-designed research studies examining treatments in combination are lacking. The management of lumbar radicular pain often includes the combination of physical therapy and therapeutic selective nerve root blocks with the rationale that reducing inflammation and pain will permit greater participation in physical therapy. The effectiveness of this combination of treatment has not been studied and is the purpose of this pilot study.

Conditions

• Sciatic Neuropathy
• Radiculopathy
• Intervertebral Disk Displacement

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Lumbar injection	Patients are instructed to resume normal activity as tolerated.
OTHER	Rehabilitation following lumbar injection	Participants are referred to an average of four weeks of physical therapy after receiving a lumbar injection. Physical therapy designed to include end-range directional preference exercises and/or mechanical traction to reduce lower extremity symptoms and progress activity tolerance.

Timeline

• Start date: 2006-01-01
• Primary completion: 2008-02-01
• Completion: 2008-02-01
• First posted: 2009-07-08
• Last updated: 2024-12-13

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated drug study