Chronic low back pain, what kind of treatment? isokinetic or physical therapy?

Objective: To confirm or rebut the superiority of isokinetic therapy techniques over physical therapy techniques. Population and method: In a prospective randomized study over 40 patients among who 17 women and 23 men suffering from a chronic low back pain with an average age (5-43 years).The population was divided on tow groups; the first half received nine treatment sessions of isokinetic, the second received the same amount of treatment but in physical therapy. A clinical comparison focused on the EVA (pain and handicap), distance hand-floor and buttock-heel, Schober’s indication, the isokinetic comparison emphasized on Cybex-NORM™ dynamometer with three angular speeds: 30 °/s, 90°/s and 120°/s in a concentric mode studying the peak torque of spinal and abdominal muscles couple and their ratios. Results: The two techniques improved all the clinical and instrumental parameters. The isokinetic superiority deals with EVA lumbar pain and handicap, distance buttock-heel and Sorensen-Biering test, classical rehabilitation over the peak torque of spinal and abdominal muscles couple at low speed and ratios at low and medium speeds. Conclusion: In chronic low back pain, isokinetic excels in endurance of spinals muscles whereas classical reeducation excels in improving muscular deficit. A study in the future with evaluation at medium and long term is to be organized for this purpose.