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

Objective: to compare the outcomes of prone and supine lumbar traction in patients with chronic discogenic low back pain.design: prospective, randomized control trial.setting: urban physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic.participants: a total of 124 subjects with chronic low back pain (lbp) and evidence of a degenerativeand/or herniated inter-vertebral disk at 1 or more levels of the lumbar spine, who have not our exclusion criteria.intervention: 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.main outcome measures: 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).conclusions: 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.