Physiotherapy aids ankylosing spondylitis

A review of current data suggests that physiotherapy is beneficial for ankylosing spondylitis; however, the researchers caution that it is still unclear which treatment protocol should be recommended.To update the Cochrane review on the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions in the management of AS Dr Hanne Dagfinrud and colleagues evaluated 43 studies on a total of 561 patients in six trials. The previous review (2001) involved three trials and 320 patients.Within the evaluation two trials compared individualised home exercise with no intervention. The results of these two trials provided "low-quality" evidence in favour of home exercise in physical function and spinal mobility. No effect on pain intensity was seen.Three further trials compared supervised group physiotherapy with one individualised home exercise program. Moderate quality evidence for effectiveness was found in patient global assessment and spinal mobility in favour of the supervised group. However, no differences in pain intensity were noted.The remaining trial compared a three-week inpatient spa-exercise therapy followed by weekly outpatient group physiotherapy with weekly outpatient group physiotherapy alone. The authors found "moderate quality" evidence for a benefit for combined spa-exercise therapy in terms of pain, physical function and patient global assessment.Dr Dagfinrud's group call for further research and conclude that current best available evidence suggests, "physiotherapy is beneficial for people with AS". However, the team caution that it is still unclear which treatment protocol should be recommended.Reference...