Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Feb 8, 2025
Date Accepted: Dec 2, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Impact of Physiotherapy Intervention on Pain, Quality of Life, and Function in Low Back Pain Associated with Piriformis Syndrome. A protocol for a systematic review.
ABSTRACT
Background:
It is a neuromuscular condition with hip and buttock pain, and other symptoms including referred pain towards lower back to the leg and radiated towards medial aspect of the foot. Similarly low back pain because of piriformis syndrome is undetected or difficult to diagnose because of similar symptoms of lumbar disc herniation, lumbar stenosis, or radiculopathy as well neurogenic pain. The study conducted on 2013 finding out 2910 patients having low back pain with sciatica. The most common cause of low back pain because of piriformis muscle stiffness. The prevalence of low back pain in piriformis syndrome is 5-36%. It more commonly seen in women than males.
Objective:
This systematic review protocol seeks to identifying the evidence whether physiotherapy interventions effectively relieve pain, improve the functional outcomes, and enhance the quality of life among individuals suffering from low back pain associated with piriformis syndrome.
Methods:
This review will look at randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and Non-RCT that involve physiotherapy for patients with low back pain linked to piriformis syndrome. The studies included must report on pain levels or improvements in function related to quality-of-life outcomes. Searches will take place in Google Scholar, Pubmed/MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, and PEDro for articles published from January 2014 to January 2025. Two reviewers will individually check the studies, choose relevant ones, and collect data while assessing quality using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. We will provide a narrative summary of the findings, concentrating on data about pain management, functional improvement, and quality of life enhancements.
Results:
The effectiveness of therapy for low back pain linked to piriformis syndrome will be evaluated by calculating standardised mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to measure primary outcomes such pain intensity, quality of life, and functional improvement. A narrative approach will be the primary method used for data synthesis due to the anticipated variation among studies.
Conclusions:
The systematic review protocol is designed with the view to identify effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions for managing low back pain in piriformis syndrome. Through their analysis, RCTs will be reviewed with evidence-based recommendations on the reduction of pain, improving function, and enhancing quality of life. Clinical Trial: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) under ID: CRD42025644124
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