A Controlled Observational Study on the Effectiveness of Bombay Hospital's Rehabilitation Protocol for Cervical and Lumbar Nerve Root Compression

Abstract

The causes of musculoskeletal disability in terms of functional independence and quality of life are largely due to cervical and lumbar nerve root compression that are the major causes of musculoskeletal disability globally. The current controlled observational study was designed to assess the efficacy of Bombay Hospital structured multimodal rehabilitation protocol of pain reduction, functional disability and range of motion in patients with cervical and lumbar nerve root compression. Eighty (80) patients (40 cervical, 40 lumbar) were recruited in the period between January 2021 and December 2022 and divided into the rehabilitation group (n=40) and the control group (n=40), respectively. The outcome measures were Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and goniometric range of motion measures at baseline, 6 weeks and 12 weeks. The hypothesis was that the structured rehabilitation plan would have significantly more improvements than a conventional treatment. Findings showed statistically significant decreases in VAS (p<0.001), NDI (p<0.01), and ODI (p<0.001) scores of rehabilitation group over controls. The protocol was found to be clinically better in the restoration of the functional capacity. The research concluded that multimodal rehabilitation protocol at Bombay Hospital is an effective and evidence-based intervention in the management of cervical and lumbar nerve root compression on a conservative basis.