Sujith S¹, Jomi John², Sreejith P S³

Authors:

²Assistant Professor, School of Medical Education, Centre for Professional and Advanced Studies, Gandhinagar, Kottayam, Kerala, India

³Chief Physiotherapist, Mercy Nursing Home, Karukachal PO, Kottayam, Kerala, India.

Corresponding Author:

¹Assistant Professor, School of Medical Education, Centre for Professional and Advanced Studies, Gandhinagar, Kottayam, Kerala, India, Mail Id:sujithhavemail@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives:  Low back pain is a commonly confronted orthopedic problem. Even though in high prevalence, the source of pain is not established in majority of cases, termed nonspecific low back pain. A major factor in genesis and persistence of nonspecific low back pain isinstability of spine. Transverse abdominis muscle is attributed to play an important role in stabilization of lumbar spine. The purpose of the study is to find out the effectiveness of abdominal draw in manoeuvre in combination with ankle dorsiflexion in strengthening transverse abdominis muscle and its impact on pain and disability in patients with nonspecific low back pain.

Methods: 30 subjects who satisfy the inclusion criteria were recruited for the study. Subjects were then allocated to two groups-Group A (control group) and Group B (experimental group), with 15 in each group. Subjects in group A received conventional treatment and group B received experimental treatment of abdominal draw in maneuvers in combination with ankle dorsiflexion along with conventional treatment. Transverse abdominis activation was measured using stabilizer, Pain using Visual analogue scale (VAS) and disability by Oswestry disability index (ODI).

Result: Post test scores of experimental and control groups of VAS, ODI and Transverse abdominis activation were statistically analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and two sample t test. Data analysis showed a statistically significant improvement in VAS and transverse abdominis activation at 1 % level and ODI showed statistically significant improvement at 5% level.

Conclusion: Low back pain patients who received abdominal draw in manoeuvre in combination with ankle dorsiflexion along with conventional physical therapy showed improvement in transverse abdominis activation, pain as well as disability than control group.

Key words: Low Back Pain; Abdominal draw in Manoeuvre; Ankle Dorsiflexion; Transverse abdominis.