Comparative Effects of Stabilization Exercises and Muscle Energy Techniques in Sacroiliac Joint Pain

Comparative Effects of Stabilization Exercises and Muscle Energy Techniques on Pain and Disability in Sacroiliac Joint Patients

Sacroiliac joint is in pelvis. It links the iliac bone (pelvic) bone to the sacrum. This joint pain is due to hyper mobility or instability of the joint, it may also cause by damage to joint between the spine and hip. This pain is typically felt in the lower back, or hip and may radiate to groin area. The aim of this study will be to compare the effects of stabilization exercises and muscle energy techniques on pain and disability in patients with sacroiliac joint pain.

A randomized clinical trial will be conducted at Ibn- e- Siena hospital and research institute Multan and in Bakhtawar Amin hospital Multan through convenience sampling technique on 30 patients which will be allocated through simple random sampling through sealed opaque enveloped into group A and group B. After giving common treatment of hot pack and transcutaneous electrical stimulation and assessing pre-treatment patient's condition Group A will be treated with stabilization exercises in which iliopsoas, gluteal and hamstring muscles will be stabilized. Total twelve sessions will be given as three sets three times per week for four weeks. Group B will be treated with muscle energy technique, this is active form of manual therapy in which patient will exert force against physiotherapist force through autogenic inhibition and reciprocal inhibition. (20% patient force against that applied by the physiotherapist and hold contractions for 10 seconds over 5 to 12 repetitions, 3 times per week for 4 weeks). Post-treatment assessment will be done after one month. Outcome measure will be conducted through pain and disability questionnaire after 6 weeks. Data will be analyzed using SPSS software version 21. After assessing normality of data by Shapiro -Wilk test, it will be decided either parametric or non-parametric test will be used within a group or between two groups. Stabilization exercises and muscle energy techniques will be applied for comparing their effectiveness in patients with sacroiliac joint pain.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Both men and women age between 30-50 with positive Laslett's criteria. The Cluster of Laslett is a group of four test used for sacroiliac joint pain, the four tests are:

  1. Sacroiliac Distraction (Gapping) Test
  2. Thigh Thrust Test
  3. Sacroiliac Compression (Squish) Test
  4. Sacral Thrust test

• If a patient has three or more positive pain provocation tests, and then there is a 59% chance that the patient will have Sacroiliac joint pain.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Trochanteric bursitis
• Pelvic bone fracture
• Pelvic implants
• Pregnancy
• Lumbosacral disc herniation
• Sacroiliac joint inflammation
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Malignancy