Manual therapy applied by general practitioners for nonspecific low back pain: results of the ManRuck pilot-study

Background: Nonspecific acute low back pain (LBP) is a common reason for accessing primary care. German guidelines recommend non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and physical activity as evidence-based treatments. Manual Therapy (MT) remains controversial. To increase evidence-based treatment options for general practitioners (GPs), a Pilot-Study was set up to gather information about the required conditions and setting for an RCT. Methods: The open pilot-study assesses recruitment methods for GPs and patients, timelines, data collection and outcomes of treatment immediately (T0) and 1, 6 and 12 weeks after consultation (T1, T2, T3). Inclusion criteria for GPs were: no experience of MT; for patients: adults between 18 and 50 suffering from LBP for less than 14 days. Study process: Patients' control-group (CG) was consecutively recruited first and received standard care. After GPs received a single training session in MT lasting two and a half hours, they consecutively recruited patients with LBP to the intervention group (IG). These patients received add-on MT. Primary outcomes: (A): timelines and recruitment success, (B): assessment tools and sample size evaluation, (C) clinical findings: pain intensity change from baseline to day 3 and time till (a) analgesic use stopped and (b) 2-point pain reduction on an 11-point scale occurred. Secondary outcomes: functional capacity, referral rate, use of other therapies, sick leave, patient satisfaction. Results: 14 GPs participated, recruiting 42 patients for the CG and 45 for the IG; 49% (56%) of patients were women. Average baseline pain was 5.98 points, SD: +/- 2.3 (5.98, SD +/- 1.8). For an RCT an extended timeline and enhanced recruitment procedures are required. The assessment tools seem appropriate and provided relevant findings: additional MT led to faster pain reduction. IG showed reduced analgesic use and reduced pain at T1 and improved functional capacity by T2. Conclusions: Before verifying the encouraging findings that additional MT may lead to faster pain reduction and reduced analgesic use via an RCT, the setting, patients' structure, and inclusion criteria should be considered more closely.