Volume 28, Issue 147, May 2024

The effect of Neural Mobilization on sciatica pain: A systematic review

Muzun A Zafarani^1,2, Rania N Almeheyawi^2♦

¹Department of Physical Therapy, Prince Mansour Military Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Objective: To systematically review and explore the impact of neural mobilization (NM) on pain in patients with sciatica. Methods: Five electronic databases were searched. Studies investigating NM in patients with sciatica pain using pain outcome measures mainly to measure potential changes in pain levels. The studies were assessed using the CONSORT statement checklist. Results: A total of 1581 articles were identified in the search. After the screening process, eight studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review with a total of 368 participants. All the studies measured pain, including the visual analog and numerical pain rating scales. Seven out of eight studies reported that using NM impacted sciatica pain significantly (p<0.05) by decreasing the level of pain either separately (n = 3) or by being combined with other interventions, including hot packs, exercise therapy, and electrotherapy (n = 4). Conclusion: The studies’ results showed consistency in the evidence that supports using NM to address sciatica pain when coupled with other interventions. However, conducting a meta-analysis to measure the effect size of using NM for sciatica pain was not applicable due to the limited number of studies that measured the discrete effect of NM on sciatica pain and the clinical heterogeneity in the methodologies of applying NM in the studies included. Therefore, future studies are advised to measure the discrete effect of NM by recruiting intervention groups who only receive NM.

Keywords: Sciatica pain, radiating low back pain, neural mobilization, nerve mobilization, neurodynamic exercises

Medical Science, 2024, 28, e36ms3330

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v28i147.e36ms3330

Published: 07 May 2024