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Ferreira CWS, Alburquerque-Sendı’n F. Effectiveness of physical therapy for pregnancy-related low back and/or pelvic pain after delivery: a systematic review. Physiother Theory Pract 2013; 29: 419–431.
Background
Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) is often reported during and after pregnancy and the exact cause(s) is not clear. A wide variety of physical therapy interventions such as exercise/manual therapies, use of pelvic belts, electrotherapeutic agents and patient education are presently used for the treatment of pregnancy-related PGP1. These interventions are continuing to be used, whereby evidence-informed decisions may not be followed.
Aim
The aim of the systematic review was to investigate the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions for the treatment of postpartum low back pain (LBP) and PGP.
Searches and inclusion criteria
The searches were conducted using eight electronic databases including PubMed, Medline, SciELO, LILACS, Cochrane Collaboration Database, SCIRUS, Scopus and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). The keywords used were obtained from the Medical Subject Headings, which included LBP, physiotherapy, postpartum period and pregnancy. Corresponding terms of these keywords in Portuguese and Spanish languages were also included. Studies published in peer-reviewed journals were only included with …
Footnotes
↵ i Figures in parentheses indicate: the number (n) of studies, which found differences for that specific outcome measure between the groups/number of studies (n), which included that particular outcome measure.
Contributors APB selected the systematic review and wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. APB and HSR carried out the critical appraisal of the article and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.