Abstract

Low back pain is usually self-limiting. It has a sizeable impact on patients, and is associated with high healthcare and societal costs as much as $16 billion each year. Patients are commonly treated in primary care but a small proportion is referred to secondary care and may eventually have surgery. There are numerous treatment approaches for sciatica. Many people receive only medical treatment and are unaware of the availability and efficacy of the physiotherapy treatment. Objective of this study is to find out best treatment by comparison between medical interventions versus physiotherapy treatment for Sciatica. This study is a quasi-experimental study which includes patients presenting with sciatica divided into two groups. One group received medical treatment from a general physician and other group received physical therapy treatment from physiotherapist along with medical treatment from general physician. The study was conducted at Fatima Memorial Hospital, Services Hospital, Mayo Hospital and Hamid Latif Hospital, Lahore. The study was completed within the time duration from February 2017 to July 2017. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to collect data. Pre-treatment evaluation was done with Visual Analogue Scale, Oswestry Disability Index and Straight Leg Raising Test. The physical inspection involved the straight leg raising test and active knee extension tests. The data was managed and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Physiotherapy along with medical treatment is observed to give better interventional outcomes.

Key words: Sciatica, medical intervention, physiotherapy, oswestry disability index, straight leg raising test