Dogan Murat, Sahin Ozlem, Elden Hasan, Hayta Emrullah, Kaptanoglu Ece
Corum State Hospital, Clinic of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Corum, Turkey.
South Med J. 2011 Aug;104(8):574-8. doi: 10.1097/SMJ.0b013e318224644f.
Balneotherapy has been widely used for treatment of chronic low back pain recently. However there are only a few clinical controlled trials on balneotherapy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of balneotherapy in patients with chronic low back pain.
Sixty patients with lumbar spondylosis were included in the study. In Group 1, patients received both balneotherapy and physiotherapy and in Group 2, patients received only physiotherapy for three weeks. The intensity of the pain was evaluated by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and functional disability was scored according to Revised Oswestry Index (ROI). Spinal mobility was assessed by the Schober and lateral flexion tests. Variables were evaluated before and after the three weeks of treatment.
The groups were comparable regarding age (P = 0.970) and sex (P = 0.357). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups for baseline VAS (P = 0.838), Schober test (P = 0.226), and right (P = 0.642) and left (P = 0.674) lateral flexion measurements, and ROI scores (P = 0.798). At the end of the therapy, all clinical parameters significantly improved in patients in both of the groups (P < 0.05). VAS, Schober test, and ROI scores after the therapy were clearly superior in Group 1 in comparison to Group 2 (P < 0.05).
The results of the present study reiterate that besides conventional physiotherapy, balneotherapy may be effective in the treatment of patients with chronic low back pain.
近年来，温泉疗法已广泛用于治疗慢性下腰痛。然而，关于温泉疗法的临床对照试验却很少。本研究的目的是评估温泉疗法对慢性下腰痛患者的疗效。
本研究纳入了60例腰椎间盘突出症患者。第1组患者接受温泉疗法和物理治疗，第2组患者仅接受为期三周的物理治疗。采用视觉模拟评分法（VAS）评估疼痛强度，并根据修订的奥斯维斯特里指数（ROI）对功能障碍进行评分。通过肖伯试验和侧屈试验评估脊柱活动度。在治疗三周前后对各项变量进行评估。
两组在年龄（P = 0.970）和性别（P = 0.357）方面具有可比性。两组在基线VAS（P = 0.838）、肖伯试验（P = 0.226）、右侧（P = 0.642）和左侧（P = 0.674）侧屈测量以及ROI评分（P = 0.798）方面均无统计学显著差异。治疗结束时，两组患者的所有临床参数均有显著改善（P < 0.05）。与第2组相比，第1组治疗后的VAS、肖伯试验和ROI评分明显更高（P < 0.05）。
本研究结果再次表明，除了传统的物理治疗外，温泉疗法可能对慢性下腰痛患者的治疗有效。
