Introduction. Approximately 80% of people worldwide feel at least once in their lives some pain in the lumbar spine. The lumbar spine syndrome is significant for its frequency and features to recidivate, at the same time giving this health problem a socio-economic significance. Herniated lumbar intervertebral disc can press spinal nerves and cause pain, weakness, numbness and tingling, and in this respect it is called sciatica. Moreover, it is one of the most common reasons for surgical intervention of lumbar segment of the spine.
Methods. A prospective study encompassed 35 patients, 22 men and 13 women, with an average age of 47 years. All patients were surgically treated for herniated lumbar disc. The first post-operative rehabilitation treatment was conducted with the application of balneotherapy treatment according to the same, earlier established, therapeutic, protocol. The data about age, sex, occupation, period from surgery to
rehabilitation were analyzed. The assessment of posture, mobility of lumbar segment, Lazarevic’s-Lasegue’s sign and muscular strength of lower limbs were noted and compared before and after rehabilitation including the pre-surgical Visual Analog Scale for Pain.
Results. The average time from surgery to the balneotherapy treatment was 2.26 ± 1.5 months, and the applied treatment lasted for approximately 19 days. The average assessment on the Pain Scale was 9.09, before balneotherapy 4.11 and after balneotherapy 1.86 with statistically significant differences (Fr=70.00; p<0.01). The average value of mobility according to Schober’s test before rehabilitation was 1.97 whereas after rehabilitation it was 3.14. The average assessment of sheer muscular strength of lower limbs according to manual muscle test was 3.9 before and 4.4 after application of balneotherapy treatment (Z=3.638; p<0.01).
Conclusion. It has been confirmed that applied therapeutic protocol decreases pain and increases the functional capacity of lumbar spine in post-discectomy syndrome.
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