Effect of lumbar traction on discogenic low back pain using variable forces.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of variable traction forces on discogenic low back pain. METHODS: The experimental study was conducted at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Combined Military Hospital, Okara, Pakistan, from July to December 2018, and comprised patients of low back pain who were randomised into group 1 treated with high-force lumbar traction, hot pack and lumbar stabilisation exercises, and group 2 treated with low-force lumbar traction, hot pack and lumbar stabilisation exercises. There were a 3 sessions per week for 3 weeks for a total of 9 sessions. Modified Oswestry disability index and visual analogue scale were used to measure outcomes. Data was analysed using SPSS 20. RESULTS: Of the 30 patients, there were 15(50%) in each of the two groups. There were 18(60%) females and 12(40%) males, with an overall mean age of 30±5.5 years. Also 18(60%) subjects were obese on the basis of body mass index.There was significant improvement in pain in both groups (p<0.05), while disability scores in group 1 showed more improvement compared to group 2 (p<0.05). Young age was significantly associated with better results (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Use of variable force lumbar traction improved pain in discogenic low back pain, while high-force lumbar traction also reduced functional disability.

Impact of strengthening exercises with and without blood flow restriction on quadriceps of knee osteoarthritis patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of blood flow restriction with strengthening exercises on knee osteoarthritis patients. METHOD: The case-control study was conducted at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Combined Military Hospital, Okara, Pakistan, from June to December 2018, and comprised knee osteoarthritis patients who were assigned to two equal groups. The cases in Group A received strengthening exercises with blood flow restriction, while the controls in Group B received strengthening exercises without blood flow restriction. Both groups were given 4 sessions of treatment per week with 5-minute warm-up on a stationary bike for 4 weeks. Outcome was measured using visual analogue scale, Kujala scoring questionnaire and muscle girth measurement. Data was analysed using SPSS 20. RESULTS: Of the 30 patients, 15(50%) were in each of the two groups. There were 20(66.7%) females and 10(33.3%) men with an overall mean age of 66.5}6.5 years. Also, 18(60%) subjects were overweight on the basis of body mass index. There were significant improvement in terms of pain and disability in both the groups (p<0.05)), but only Group A showed significant improvement in muscle girth (p<0.05). Overall there was no significant difference between the groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Strengthening exercises reduced pain and disability, but the addition of blood flow restriction had no significant impact except in terms of muscle size.