Session Information
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2019
Session Title: General Rehabilitation Research Report & Practice Management and Leadership Case Report
Session Time: 12:30pm-2:00pm
Location: Research Hub - Kiosk 2
Disclosures: Vinny Francio, MD: Nothing to disclose.
Objective: To review the role of WBV exercise therapy in NMS rehabilitation. WBV exercise is becoming increasingly popular for relieving MSK pain and improving health-related quality of life (QOL). With this review, we aim to discuss the current literature and recommendations of WBV therapy for NMS rehabilitation.
Design: Narrative review of 30 peer-reviewed articles from 2011-2018.
Setting: n/a
Participants: n/a
Interventions: n/a
Main Outcome Measures: n/a
Results: WBV exercises and training had better functional outcomes than exercise alone for middle-aged and elderly women with knee pain. Furthermore, WBV therapy improved muscular strength, power development, kinesthetic awareness, muscle soreness, and range of motion (ROM). WBV therapy in exercise results in decreased pressure-pain threshold and appears to be effective for diabetic neuropathic pain. In chronic knee OA patients, WBV reduced pain intensity and increased quadriceps strength and dynamic balance performance when compared to a home-based exercise program. A 2011 RCT revealed that WBV improved QOL and pain in women with fibromyalgia. WBV improves spinal proprioception including posture, lumbar repositioning ability, and lumbopelvic coordination. An 8-week WBV training increased ankle ROM and decreased risk of falls in people living with multiple sclerosis. A 2018 review suggested that WBV accelerates bone healing, by promoting mineralization, and helps restore osseous mechanical properties. There is moderate evidence for WBV improving Oswestry disability score and pain scores in adults with chronic low back pain, in addition to spinal stabilization exercises or alone. The safety of WBV has been examined in healthy and critically ill patients, and it was deemed safe without clinically relevant adverse reactions.
Conclusions: Disability guidelines and expert consensus suggest strong evidence to support WBV therapy as recommended therapy for MSK pain. Recent studies demonstrated improvements in knee pain, quadriceps muscle strength, ankle ROM, kinesthetic awareness, spinal proprioception, frequency of falls, diabetic peripheral neuropathy symptoms, disability scores and chronic low back pain symptoms, without adverse reactions.
Level of Evidence: Level IV
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Francio V, Raum G, Barndt B, Cohen E, Eubanks JE, Batri A. Is There a Role for Whole Body Vibration (WBV) Therapy in Neuro-musculo-skeletal (NMS) Rehabilitation? [abstract]. PM R. 2019; 11(S2)(suppl 2). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/is-there-a-role-for-whole-body-vibration-wbv-therapy-in-neuro-musculo-skeletal-nms-rehabilitation/. Accessed September 7, 2024.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2019
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/is-there-a-role-for-whole-body-vibration-wbv-therapy-in-neuro-musculo-skeletal-nms-rehabilitation/