Współczesne kierunki rehabilitacji w zespołach bólowych kręgosłupa lędźwiowo-krzyżowego – przegląd systematyczny

ABSTRACT Introduction: Back pain is considered a lifestyle disease due to its prevalence and the increasingly young age of patients. The aim of this paper is a critical analysis of available guidelines, reports and evidence of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in low back pain. This paper presents epidemiology, aetiology, diagnosis and selected methods of treatment and prevention of low back pain. Materials and methods: The literature was reviewed based on the Polish Medical Bibliography computer database and the English-language PubMed, Web of Sciences and Cochrane Library database. Additionally, the Google Scholar search engine was used. The presented works have been analyzed in terms of their scientific reference and compliance with the principles of Evidence-Based Medicine. In order to obtain high-quality recommendations, the review included current scientific evidence based on peer-reviewed scientific publications, systematic reviews, meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials. Results: According to numerous studies, bed rest is ineffective and should not be recommended. The literature on the effects of acupuncture, TENS, cold therapy and traction on low back pain is too heterogeneous; further high-quality research is needed before any final conclusions are drawn. Strongly recommended methods for treating low back pain symptoms are: physical exercise, manual therapy, and education. Conclusions: Further research is required to identify effective non-pharmacological treatments for low back pain, and to understand the additional benefits of combining individual interventions, as well as which treatment combinations and sequences are most effective.