A Prospective Observational Study of Emergency Department-Initiated Physical Therapy for Acute Low Back Pain.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Low back pain accounts for nearly 4 million emergency department (ED) visits annually and is a significant source of disability. Physical therapy has been suggested as a potentially effective nonopioid treatment for low back pain; however, no studies to our knowledge have yet evaluated the emerging resource of ED-initiated physical therapy. The study objective was to compare patient-reported outcomes in patients receiving ED-initiated physical therapy and patients receiving usual care for acute low back pain.

Methods

This was a prospective observational study of ED patients receiving either physical therapy or usual care for acute low back pain from May 1, 2018, to May 24, 2019, at a single academic ED (>91,000 annual visits). The primary outcome was pain-related f

SUBMITTER: Kim HS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7970627 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature