Lumbar extension traction alleviates symptoms and facilitates healing of disc herniation/sequestration in 6-weeks, following failed treatment from three previous chiropractors: a CBP® case report with an 8 year follow-up.
Paul A Oakley, Deed E Harrison
PMID 29200655WHAT IT FOUND
A follow-up MRI reported no evidence of lumbar herniation or sequestration in one man after 6-weeks of chiropractic care for MRI-confirmed herniation.
Several treatments were given together, so the effect of lumbar extension traction alone cannot be known.
Key findings
01A follow-up MRI reported no evidence of lumbar herniation or sequestration, with the canal and lateral recesses widely patent and no cause for pain detected.
02At the 27th treatment, the patient rated low back pain as 0-1/10 and his ODI disability score was 30%, compared with 8-9/10 and 46% at the initial examination.
03The patient received spinal manipulative therapy, heat, ice and inversion table along with lumbar extension traction, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This is a single case report with a sample size of one, so it cannot show that a treatment works. The patient received spinal manipulative therapy, heat, ice and inversion table along with lumbar extension traction, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Details of the previous chiropractic care from three practitioners were not attainable. The patient was also taking prescribed medications and was referred to a neurologist, so other care may have affected symptoms or recovery. Lumbar disc herniations can resolve with time and conservative treatment, so a negative MRI after 6-weeks does not prove traction caused the change. The authors propose a biomechanical mechanism for traction, but the paper does not test that mechanism.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not report funding sources or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that lumbar extension traction healed the disc. The patient also received spinal manipulative therapy, heat, ice and inversion table, and a single case cannot show what worked.