Abstract
Background: Pregnancy-related low back pain (PRLBP) is a highly prevalent and clinically significant musculoskeletal condition that can lead to significant disability and negatively impact a woman's quality of life.
Aim: To determine the effect of stabilization exercises combined with pelvic floor exercises on PRLBP.
Materials and Methods: Forty-eight pregnant women diagnosed with low back pain (LBP) were recruited from the gynecology and obstetrics outpatient clinic at EL-Kasr El-Ainy Hospital and were assigned randomly into two equal groups. Group A (control group) received stabilization exercises only triweekly for 8 weeks. Group B (study group) received stabilization and pelvic floor exercises triweekly for 8 weeks. Assessment of both groups before and after the 8-week treatment program involved measuring pain intensity by the visual analogue scale (VAS), evaluating lumbar flexion range of motion (ROM) by the modified Schober test (MST), and evaluating functional disability by the Arabic version of Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).
Results: Both groups, A and B, demonstrated significant within-group improvements in all outcome measures post-treatment (p<0.05). Between-group comparisons post-treatment showed no significant differences in VAS pain or ODI disability scores (p>0.05). However, group B exhibited significantly greater improvement in lumbar flexion ROM compared to group A post-treatment (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Adding pelvic floor exercises to stabilization exercises has a positive effect in the treatment of LBP during pregnancy, and is more effective in increasing lumbar ROM than stabilization exercises alone.
Keywords: Pregnancy related low back pain, Pelvic floor exercise, Stabilization exercise.