Here are thumbnail reviews and links to a few studies and papers on spinal decompression we’ve found in various medical journals

Journal of Neurological Research, October 2001. For any given patient with low back and referred leg pain, we (the researchers) cannot predict with certainty which cause has assumed primacy. Therefore surgery, by being directed at root decompression at the site of the herniation alone, may not be effective if secondary causes of pain have become predominant. Decompression therapy, however, addresses both primary and secondary causes of low back and referred leg pain. We thus submit that Decompression therapy should be considered first, before the patient undergoes a surgical procedure which permanently alters the anatomy and function of the affected lumbar spine segment. Click here to read the study.

Journal of Neurological Research, October 2001. Same edition, different study. Dermatosomal Somatosensory Evoked Potential Demonstration of Nerve Root Decompression After VAX-D Therapy. Reductions in low back pain and referred leg pain associated with a diagnosis of herniated disc, degenerative disc disease or facet syndrome have previously been reported after treatment with a spinal decompression table…The object of this study was to use dermatomal somatosensory evoked potentials (DSSEPs) to demonstrate lumbar root decompression following spinal decompression therapy. Seven consecutive patients with a diagnosis of low back pain and unilateral or bilateral L5 or S1 radiculopathy were studied. All patients had at least 50% improvement in radicular symptoms and low back pain and three of them experienced complete resolution of all symptoms. The average pain reduction was 77%. Click here to read the study.

Journal of Neurological Research, April 1998. Data was collected from twenty-two medical centers for patients who received decompression therapy for low back pain, which was sometimes accompanied by referred leg pain. Only patients who received at least ten sessions and had a diagnosis of herniated disc, degenerative disc or facet syndrome which were confirmed by diagnostic imaging, were included in this study; a total of 778 cases. The treatment was successful in 71% of the 778 cases, when success was defined as a reduction in pain to 0 or 1, on a 0 to 5 scale. Improvements in mobility and activities of daily living correlated strongly with pain reduction. Click here to read the study.

From Anaethesiology News, March 2003.. Small, non-randomized follow-up study on the outcomes of decompression therapy on reducing chronic low back pain. Among 23 patients studied, 71% showed more than a 50% reduction in pain immediately after treatment, and 86% showed a 50% or better pain reduction at four years. After four years, 52% of respondents reported a pain level of zero. Click here to read the study.

Treatment of Discogenic Low Back Pain presentation, The spinal decompression reduces intradiscal pressure to a minus 150mm Hg., effectively decompressing the disc. With conventional traction intradiscal pressures either increase, remain the same or slightly decrease. Conventional traction devices elicit reflex muscle contraction thus interfering with decompression. The decompression table, on the other hand, has a time energy distraction curve that is logarithmic, and we believe this is the reason decompression occurs. Click here to read the study.

Medical Technologies Group special report on spinal decompression. Low back problems are expensive. While it is difficult to assess or calculate the total cost to society, there is strong evidence that both economic and psychosocial costs are substantial. Since MTG receives so many claims dealing with patients suffering from disc pathology, our Technology Assessment Division felt it prudent to study the literature for various treatment modalities in order to better evaluate the medical necessity of these types of claims. We particularly chose to study the effects of Vertebral Axial Decompression on intradiscal pressure. Click here to read the study.

Journal of Neurosurgery, 1994. Effects of Vertebral Axial Decompression on Intradiscal Pressure. The object of this study was to examine the effect of vertebral axial decompression on pressure in the nucleus pulposus of lumbar discs. Changes in intradiscal pressure were recorded at resting state and while controlled tension was applied on a decompression therapeutic table. Intradiscal pressure demonstrated an inverse relationship to the tension applied. Tension in the upper range was observed to decompress the nucleus pulposus significantly, to below -100mm Hg. Click here to read the study.

Canadian Journal of Medicine, January 1999. Effects of Vertebral Axial Decompression on Sensory Nerve Dysfunction in Patients with Low Back Pain and Radiculopathy. The data from this study implies that decompression therapy is capable of influencing sensory nerve dysfunction associated with a compressive radiculopathy. Motor dysfunction returns before sensory dysfunction in compressive radiculopathies so it is rather striking that we observed total remission in 64% of the cases with sensory dysfunction. It is possible that reduction of intradiscal pressure by decompression therapy significantly alters the biomechanics and biochemistry of the disc and nerve root. Click here to read the study.