Does early intervention improve outcomes in physiotherapy management of lumbar radicular syndrome? A mixed-methods study protocol.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Lumbar radicular syndrome (LRS) can be a painful and debilitating condition. The optimum management strategies and their timing remain elusive despite extensive research. Surgery provides good short-term outcomes but has concomitant risks and costs. Physiotherapy is commonly practised for patients with LRS but its effects remain equivocal and there is a lack of consensus on the type, duration and timing of physiotherapy intervention. There is a lack of high-quality evidence into new and innovative management strategies and the timings of those strategies for LRS. This pilot trial is an essential preliminary to a definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) assessing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of early physiotherapy intervention for patients with LRS. The

SUBMITTER: Reddington M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5353256 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature