Additional effects of piriformis stretch in the management of sacroiliac joint dysfunction: A randomized control trial

OBJECTIVE: Herein, we have determined and compared the additional effects of piriformis stretch along with sacroiliac joint (SIJ) mobilization as compared to SIJ mobilization alone on pain and disability in patients with SIJ dysfunction. METHODS: A non-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted on 36 participants (18 in each group). Non-probability purposive sampling was used, and subjects were selected using inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were allocated to control or interventional group through coin toss method. A total of 3 sessions, on alternate days, were given to training groups with SIJ mobilization alone in control group and piriformis stretch in addition to SIJ mobilization in interventional group. Thermo-electrotherapy was used prior to mobilization and stretching. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and after 1 week with pain measured by Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and disability assessed by Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Data was entered and analyzed on SPSS 22.0. RESULTS: Mean age of participants of whole sample (n = 36) was 33.03 ± 8.04 years. Out of 36 participants, 7 (19.4 %) were males and 29 (80.6 %) were female. There were 3 males and 15 females in experimental group whereas 4 males and 14 females in control group. The mean BMI of subjects was 26.39 ± 3.19 kg/m². The results of between group analyses showed that at baseline there was no statistically significant difference in pain and disability between both groups. However, after 1 week of intervention, there was statically significant improvement in disability in interventional group. Whereas, within group analysis showed statistically significant improvement in both the groups in terms of pain and disability. CONCLUSION: There is no additional effect of piriformis stretch along with SIJ mobilization on improving pain. Whereas addition of piriformis stretch with SIJ mobilization is significantly more effective for improving the overall disability in individuals with SIJ dysfunction.