Effectiveness assessment of complex procedures applied in health resort treatment of discopathy in lumbar spine

Background. Diseases of lumbar spain are a social, medical and economic problem. The pain associated with discopathy limits physical fitness, is reason of difficulty in practice of professional work. Searching for the optimal methods therapy becomes indispensable for persons with discopathy. The aim of this study was to evaluate if complex treatment procedures applied in a health resort allow to achieve better treatment result than therapy carried out in course of outpatient services. Material and methods. The research comparised 74 subjects with lumbar spine discopathy in the L4-L5, section: 37 patients of Spa Health Resort “Piast” in Iwonicz Zdrój (experimental group) and 37 patients of Independent Public Communal Center of Health in Nowy ¯migród (control group). Tested persons were at age 50-60 years. The measuring tests of the mobility range in the lumbar and thoracic-lumbar section and pain evaluation by numerical rating scale NRS were conducted before and after the treatment. Basic measures of descriptive statistics were calculated. The U Mann-Whitney test was used for comparison chosen functional parameters of spine and pain level between experimental and control group. The Wilcoxon test was used for estimate of essentiality differences of the tested parameters before and after the treatment within individual groups. Results. Following therapy both groups were found with statistically significant increase in arithmetic means for the ranges of spinal movement, yet these values did not reach normative ranges. Significantly lower than the norm were the mean values for spinal lateral flexion in the thoraco-lumbar section. Both groups showed statistically significant decrease in average point values on numeric rating scale, which suggests reduction in pain intensity as a result of the administered therapy. Conclusion. Complex treatment procedures applied in a health resort as well as therapy carried out in course of outpatient services lead to similar outcomes in terms of both improved functional parameters of the lumbar and thoraco-lumbar spinal column and reduced intensity of pain in patients with lumbar discopathy.