This retrospective chart review was conducted to assess the results of chiropractic management (including Cox flexion distraction technique) of patients with postsurgical lumbar spine pain to determine the change in reported pain based on surgical type. Ten years of patient files from one chiropractic practice were screened for lumbar spine surgery occurring before presenting for chiropractic care. Of the 58 patients with a postsurgical diagnosis, 32 files contained all pertinent components for this study, including treatment with Cox flexion distraction manipulation (and adjunct procedures) for at least two weeks and pre- and post-treatment pain measures using the Numeric Pain Scale (NPS) that ranged from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). The mean change in pre- and post-treatment NPS pain scores decreased by 4.1 points and this was most remarkable in patients who underwent a surgery that combined lumbar discectomy, fusion, and/or laminectomy (the average NPS pain reduction score was 5.7). No adverse events were reported for any of these postsurgical patients. The authors concluded that patients treated with chiropractic care saw improvement in low back pain subsequent to lumbar spine surgery. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2011 July – August;34(6):408-412. PMID: 21807265.
