Effect of neurodynamic mobilization on pain and function in subjects with lumbo- sacral radiculopathy

Neurodynamic mobilization is a set of techniques designed to restore the plasticity of the nervous system and the ability of neural tissue to stretch and tension along with pain alleviation and functional improvement.The study aimed to determine the effect of neurodynamic mobilization on pain and function in subjects with lumbo-sacral radiculopathy.24 males and females between 25-50 years of age having low back pain radiating to any one lower limb since more than 3 weeks were randomly allocated into two groups.Group A received neural mobilization and conventional treatment.Group B received conventional treatment alone.Intervention was given for 6 sessions on 6 days/week.Pain and function were measured using Numerical Pain Rating Scale(NPRS) and Modified Oswestry Disability Index (MODI) respectively.Location of symptoms was also recorded using a body diagram.There was a significant difference in pain at rest and pain during activitywithin each group, but only group B showed significant difference in function. Pain during activity showed significant difference in group A over groupB(U=-1.47;p=0.04) along with function(U=-1.52;p=0.02).Compared to conventional treatment, there is significant decrease in pain during activity and improvement in function following neurodynamic mobilization,however there is no significant improvement pain at rest.