The Phenomenon Spondylolisthesis from an Osteopathic Point of View
Item
- Title
- The Phenomenon Spondylolisthesis from an Osteopathic Point of View
- Author(s)
- Schiener Martha
- Abstract
-
Keywords: spondylolisthesis, lumbar spine, back pain, osteopathy, quality of life
Aim: Osteopathy emphasises the optimum functioning of the entire body and so also of the lumbar spine. The aim of this thesis is to find out, whether osteopathic treatments can achieve a lasting improvement of the condition of spondylolisthesis patients. Particularly in the case of spine pathologies such as spondylolisthesis, the subjective degree of suffering has a decisive influence on the quality of life and, thus, on the length of sick leaves, on the fitness for work and on the necessity of recurring medical and physical treatments of the symptoms. This thesis constitutes an important building block in order to demonstrate how efficient osteopathic treatments are for patients with this syndrome.
Study design: comparative, retrospective, statistically evaluated clinical study. The standardised Oswestry Pain Questionnaire to record the quality of life and a pain drawing were used. The success of treatment and the lasting effect of treatment were examined.
Method: The questionnaires of 22 patients having undergone osteopathic treatment were compared with those of 13 patients having undergone orthopaedic treatment. All participants were diagnosed as having spondylolisthesis (isthmus lysis) or pseudospondylolisthesis (degenerative form) grade I-II. Serious pathologies and surgery of the lumbar spine and the lower extremity were excluded.
Results: With regard to the improvement of the quality of life no statistically significant differences could be demonstrated. However, the group having undergone osteopathic treatment shows a tendency for a greater lasting effect of the treatments. The results of the pain drawing clearly show the benefit of osteopathic treatments for spondylolisthesis patients. The group of patients that is pain-free in the long run is four times bigger than in the control group.
Conclusion: The diagnosis „spondylolisthesis“ as such is not sufficiently meaningful for the prognosis and the type of therapy, but it has to be assigned to the range of non-specific lower back pain. The osteopathic treatment places the main emphasis on removing adjacent hypomobilities. The body regains its lost range of motion, and the listhesis segment is relieved. Various studies indicate that continuous stress at work or in private life contributes to the occurrence of back pain and its chronicity. Somatic factors are of only little importance in the prognosis of non-specific back pain. However, the patients themselves assess the success of a treatment by means of bodily factors. Thus, holistic, body-related treatments such as osteopathy have a considerable psychological importance, because the associative link between movement/strain and back pain can be suspended. - presented at
- Wiener Schule für Osteopathie
- Date Accepted
- 2008
- Date Submitted
- 1.2.2008 00:00:00
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 12383
- Inst-Identifier
- 781
- Keywords
- Spondylolisthesis
- Recommended
- 0
- Medium
- THESISMarthaSchiener.pdf
- Item sets
- Thesis
- Media
- THESISMarthaSchiener.pdf
Schiener Martha, “The Phenomenon Spondylolisthesis from an Osteopathic Point of View”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed April 25, 2024, https://www.osteopathic-research.com/s/orw/item/3041