The use of spinal manipulative therapy to treat acute lower back pain was associated with modest improvement in pain and function in this systematic meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Association of Spinal Manipulative Therapy With Clinical Benefit and Harm for Acute Low Back Pain
Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
ResearchPosted on rand.org May 19, 2017Published in:JAMA. 2017;317(14):1451-1460. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.3086
Importance
Acute low back pain is common and spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is a treatment option. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses have reported different conclusions about the effectiveness of SMT.
Objective
To systematically review studies of the effectiveness and harms of SMT for acute ([less than or equal to]6 weeks) low back pain.
Data Sources
Search of MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, and Current Nursing and Allied Health Literature from January 1, 2011, through February 6, 2017, as well as identified systematic reviews and RCTs, for RCTs of adults with low back pain treated in ambulatory settings with SMT compared with sham or alternative treatments, and that measured pain or function outcomes for up to 6 weeks. Observational studies were included to assess harms.
Data Extraction and Synthesis
Data extraction was done in duplicate. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Back and Neck (CBN) Risk of Bias tool. This tool has 11 items in the following domains: randomization, concealment, baseline differences, blinding (patient), blinding (care provider [care provider is a specific quality metric used by the CBN Risk of Bias tool]), blinding (outcome), co-interventions, compliance, dropouts, timing, and intention to treat. Prior research has shown the CBN Risk of Bias tool identifies studies at an increased risk of bias using a threshold of 5 or 6 as a summary score. The evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria.
Main Outcomes and Measures
Pain (measured by either the 100-mm visual analog scale, 11-point numeric rating scale, or other numeric pain scale), function (measured by the 24-point Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire or Oswestry Disability Index [range, 0–100]), or any harms measured within 6 weeks.
Findings
Of 26 eligible RCTs identified, 15 RCTs (1711 patients) provided moderate-quality evidence that SMT has a statistically significant association with improvements in pain (pooled mean improvement in the 100-mm visual analog pain scale, -9.95 [95% CI, -15.6 to -4.3]). Twelve RCTs (1381 patients) produced moderate-quality evidence that SMT has a statistically significant association with improvements in function (pooled mean effect size, -0.39 [95% CI, -0.71 to -0.07]). Heterogeneity was not explained by type of clinician performing SMT, type of manipulation, study quality, or whether SMT was given alone or as part of a package of therapies. No RCT reported any serious adverse event. Minor transient adverse events such as increased pain, muscle stiffness, and headache were reported 50% to 67% of the time in large case series of patients treated with SMT.
Conclusions and Relevance
Among patients with acute low back pain, spinal manipulative therapy was associated with modest improvements in pain and function at up to 6 weeks, with transient minor musculoskeletal harms. However, heterogeneity in study results was large.
Key Findings
- This systematic review and meta-analysis found that spinal manipulative therapy modestly helped improve both pain and function for up to 6 weeks.
- The amount of pain improvement was about the same as taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, according to one review.
- More than half of patients in large case studies experienced temporary minor adverse events, including increased pain, muscle stiffness, and headache.
Topics
Document Details
- Copyright: American Medical Association
- Availability: Non-RAND
- Year: 2017
- Pages: 10
- Document Number: EP-67142
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