efficacy of prone lumbar traction on chronic discogenic low back pain and disability

objectives: to compare the outcomes of prone and supine lumbar traction in patients with chronic discogenic low back pain. methods: the test was prospective and randomized control trial. the structure of trial was urban physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic. participants was included of a total of 124 subjects with chronic low back pain (lbp) and evidence of a degenerative and/or herniated inter-vertebral disk at 1 or more levels of the lumbar spine, who have not our exclusion criteria. there was a 4-week course of lumbar traction, prone or supine in case and control groups consecutively, consisting of six 30-minute sessions every other days, followed by four 30-minute sessions every 3 days. the numeric visual pain rating scale and the oswestry disability index (odi) were completed at pre-intervention and discharge (within 2 weeks of the last visit). results: a total of 124 subjects completed the treatment protocol. we noted significant improvements for all post-intervention outcome scores when compared with pre-intervention scores (p<0.01). also found significant difference between 2 groups in favor of prone traction (p<0.01) discussion: traction applied in the prone position for 4 weeks was associated with improvements in pain intensity and odi scores at discharge, in a sample of patients with activity limiting lbp. however, because we lacked a reasonable long time follow-up, we cannot imply a long lasting relationship between the traction and outcome, and a long time follow-up is suggested.