Acute Low Back Pain in the Emergency Department Treated With Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment Versus NSAIDs
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2022-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Acute low back pain is the fifth most common presenting complaint to the emergency
department, accounting for approximately 4.4% of annual visits. The treatment for acute low
back pain is often NSAIDs or other analgesic medications. Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment
(OMT) has been shown to be an effective treatment modality for acute low back pain, however,
it's use in the emergency department setting is not well described. The adjunct of OMT has
the potential to increase patient satisfaction, decrease length of stay and decrease the
number of unnecessary prescription medications. We plan to investigate the use of OMT in the
setting of acute complaints of low back pain in comparison to the use of nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) as primary treatment modality. The study will be a
non-blinded randomized-control trial and will take place in an academic tertiary care center
in urban Philadelphia, PA over an approximate one-year timespan. We will utilize
osteopathic-trained attending and resident physicians to perform the manipulation. Patients
will be randomized into one of three treatment groups: appropriately dosed NSAID therapy
alone, OMT in addition to NSAID therapy, or OMT alone. The primary outcome will be the
difference in pain score before and after treatment using a VAS scale. Secondary outcomes
will include patient and physician satisfaction immediately following treatment. Results will
be shared by means of publication to the osteopathic and allopathic communities.