Effect of 10%, 30%, and 60% body weight traction on the straight leg raise test of symptomatic patients with low back pain.
METHODS
Single group test-retest repeated measures.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the effects of lumbar traction with 3 different amounts of force (10%, 30% and 60% body weight) on pain-free mobility of the lower extremity as measured by the straight leg raise (SLR) test.


BACKGROUND
There are several recommendations on how lumbar traction should be performed, but the duration, frequency, force, and type of technique to be applied differ among the sources.


METHODS
Ten subjects with subjective complaints of low back pain or radicular symptoms with a positive unilateral SLR test below 45 degrees participated in this study. The pain-free mobility of the lower extremity in the SLR test position was measured prior to and immediately following 5 minutes of static traction in the supine position. Random assignment in the order of the amount of applied traction was implemented.


RESULTS
The straight leg raise measurements were found to be significantly greater immediately following 30% and 60% of body weight traction as compared to pretraction and 10% of body weight traction. The mean (SD) SLR measurements were pretraction (24.1 degrees +/- 13.0), 10% of body weight traction (27.4 degrees +/- 14.5), 30% of body weight traction (34.0 degrees +/- 14.3), 60% of body weight traction (36.5 degrees +/- 15.8).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate that traction in this group of patients improved the mobility of the lower extremity during the SLR test. Both 30% and 60% of body weight tractions were shown to be effective for increasing motion beyond pretraction levels.
Meszaros
T F
TF
Oakwood Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy Center, Dearborn, Mich, USA. meszarot@oakwood.org
Olson
R
R
Kulig
K
K
Creighton
D
D
Czarnecki
E
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D007866:Leg / Q000502:physiology*; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016683:Supine Position; D013997:Time Factors; D014143:Traction / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*