INFLUENCE of COMBINED INTERFERENTIAL CURRENT STIMULATION and ABDOMINAL DRAW-IN EXERCISES in the TREATMENT of CHRONIC NON-SPECIFIC LOW BACK PAIN

The purpose of this study is to investigate influence of a combined interferential (IF) current stimulation and abdominal draw-in exercises on the abdominal muscle thickness, TrA endurance, pain intensity and function disability in patients with chronic non-specific LBP (CNSLBP) CNSLBP is considered the second most common health problem after headache. The lifetime of LBP among Egyptian patients in a family center reached 48%, which indicates that LBP is a prevalent symptom that deserves more attention. One hypothesis for the development of LBP is due to a dysfunction in the control of the abdominal and back muscles and this change in spinal control is due in part to in local segmental muscles dysfunction, such as the transversus abdominis (TrA). Interferential therapy (IFT) is capable of achieving uniform stimulation and high reproducibility, it is thought to be less stressful, as well as enhance deep muscle contraction. Also, there is the specific training of the TrA provided functional and therapeutic benefits, such as unloading of the spine, anticipatory postural control, intersegmental stabilization of the spine, and long-term pain relief. Draw-in is a typical TrA exercise. Many studies have mainly focused on the morphological aspects of paraspinal muscles which play an essential role in patients with CNSLBP while our study focused on influence of a combined IFT stimulation and abdominal draw-in exercises on the abdominal muscle thickness, TrA endurance, pain intensity and function disability in patients with chronic non-specific LBP (CNSLBP