Effect of Core Stabilizing Training on Young Individuals Presenting Different Stages of Degenerative Disc Disease-Preliminary Report.

TLDR: In this paper, the authors assessed the efficacy of stabilizing training for the deep core muscles of the lumbar spine in subjects with degenerative disc disease and found that the stabilizing exercise sessions improved the clinical outcomes in each group.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of stabilizing training for the deep core muscles of the lumbar spine in subjects with degenerative disc disease This study was conducted on 38 participants The participants were divided into two groups: the extrusion group (EXT, n = 17) and the protrusion group (PRO, n = 21) All the subjects underwent a four-week-long core stability exercise-based treatment (five sessions/week) Clinical outcome measures were assessed pre-intervention (pre), post-intervention (post) and four weeks after the intervention (follow-up) The primary outcome measures were the spinal range of motion (ROM; Spinal Mouse® device) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) In the PRO group, the ROM decreased from 8852° pre-intervention to 8333° post-intervention and to 8282° at follow-up (p = 001), while the ODI decreased from 1614 points pre-intervention to 657 points post-intervention, with 942 points at follow-up (p < 001) In the EXT group, the ROM decreased from 8100° pre-intervention to 7705° post-intervention, then increased to 7794° at follow-up (p = 003), while the ODI decreased from 2258 points pre-intervention to 1541 points post-intervention and to 1470 points at follow-up (p < 0001) Although the stabilizing exercise sessions improved the clinical outcomes in each group, we cannot make conclusions as to whether the type of intervertebral disc damage significantly affects the results of stabilizing exercise-based treatment