# Lumbar Tractions in Radicular Pain Caused by Herniated Disc: Randomised, Open-Label, Superiority, and Controlled Trial on 424 Participants

## TL;DR

This study found that adding lumbar traction to medical treatment improves radicular pain from herniated discs more than medical treatment alone.

## Contribution

The first randomized controlled trial demonstrating the superiority of lumbar traction combined with medical treatment for radicular pain.

## Key findings

- 62% of participants in the traction group showed at least 25% pain improvement compared to 51% in the medical-only group.
- Lumbar traction combined with medical treatment was statistically superior (p = 0.024) for treating radicular pain from herniated discs.

## Abstract

Background/Objectives: Radicular pain is a frequent pathology, and disc herniation is the commonest aetiology. A meta-analysis summarising international guidelines for radicular pain, published in 2021, showed that lumbar traction’s place is still a topic of debate. In this study, our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of lumbar tractions in treating radicular pain of discal origin in association with medical treatment versus medical treatment alone. We performed a randomised, controlled, interventional, prospective, superiority trial in Reims Hospital Rheumatology Unit. Methods: We included participants with radicular pain and concordant disc herniation with ambulatory treatment failure. Participants were randomised into two groups: medical group (analgesics, anti-inflammatories treatments, at least two epidural injections); tractions group with this medical treatment associated with lumbar tractions. The primary outcome was the difference in the proportion of participants experiencing a minimum of 25% improvement in radicular pain at one month follow-up between the two groups. Results: We included 424 participants: 211 in the tractions group and 213 in the medical group. We analysed 388 participants (194 in each group). We collected demographic and clinical data, lumbar and radicular Numeric Pain Scale at baseline, one and three months. A statistical difference was found for the primary outcome: 120/194 participants (62%) in tractions group and 98/194 participants (51%) in medical group (p = 0.024). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first randomised and controlled study on this topic with these results. We can assert the superiority of lumbar tractions in association with medical treatment over medical treatment alone for radicular pain with concordant disc herniation.