Objective
The lower-body positive pressure (LBPP) treadmill exercise (AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill) is designed to allow normal treadmill walking with reduced lower extremity weight bearing. It has recognized value during rehabilitation of lower extremity injuries, such as anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, microfracture, total knee arthroplasty. Therefore, we aimed to report to determine the effects of an anti-gravity treadmill exercise program on pain, function, and lower limb muscle strength in spine disease patients.
Methods
We assessed spine disease patients referred for rehabilitation after either operation or conservative treatment at orthopedics department. Patients received strengthening lower extremity and gait training using a lower-body positive pressure (LBPP) treadmill (AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill). Before and at 3 weeks after rehabilitation, back pain (visual analog scale(VAS)), functional ambulation categories (FAC), 6-minute walk test (6MWT), 10 meter walk test (10MWT), Berg balance scale (BBS), timed up-and-go test (TUG), and one repetitive maximum (1RM) of leg press incline, leg press, leg extension, leg curl, hip abduction and hip adduction were conducted.
Results
Twenty patients (8 male/12 female, mean age 68.80 ± 14.45) were included. The results shows significant improvements in VAS (p<0.001), FAC (p<0.001), 6MWT (p<0.001), 10MWT (p=0.002), BBS (p<0.001) and TUG (p<0.001) after treatment. Also, 1 RM of leg press incline (p=0.001), 1 RM of right leg press (p=0.004), 1 RM of left leg press (p=0.006), 1 RM of right leg extension (p=0.001), 1 RM of left leg extension (p<0.001), 1 RM of right leg curl (p<0.001), 1 RM of left leg curl (p=0.007), 1 RM of hip abduction (p=0.001) and 1 RM of hip adduction (p=0.001) increased significantly after treatment. All participants completed the training and testing, and there were no serious adverse events during the study period.
Conclusion
This results suggest that 3 weeks of an anti-gravity treadmill exercise program is safe, and leads to significant improvements in pain, function, and lower limb muscle strength in spine disease patients. These findings have important implications for the development of treatment strategies that can be used in the management of spine disease. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these findings.
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Demographic and Disease-Related Characteristics of the Subjects
Disease Characteristics of the Patients
Changes in Pain, Function, Muscle Strength, before and after treatment
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