Abstract
Introduction. Spondylolisthesis is one of the most frequent health problems in the case of former professional women-gymnasts. The lack of adequate treatment leads to serious troubles in the dynamic and the static state of the spinal cord long, medium and short term (sometimes even requiring surgical intervention), with major impact on the patients’ activity and their social and professional life.
Materials and methods. The research has been carried out on a number of 10 former professional women-gymnasts aged between 22 and 28, all being clinically diagnosed with spondylolisthesis L5-S1. All the patients suffered from hyperlordosis and scoliosis with primary lumbar curvature. The treatment consisted in relaxing the lumbar vertebrae, manipulating the sacral-iliac region, and central postero-anterior and postero-anterior cranial-caudal manipulation on S1 level. The assessment was achieved based on the clinical evaluation and the initial and final radiological examination, and it lasted for 6 weeks, with a frequency of 3-4 sessions a week.
Results. Due to the treatment, the clinical symptoms of spondylolisthesis disappeared, and the results of the final X-ray examination were much better than the initial ones.
Conclusions. Due to the treatment, the spondylolisthesis had a spectacular positive evolution, fact which was proved by the X-ray results. The results allow us to conclude that the vertebral manipulation is efficient in the rehabilitation of spondylolisthesis in the case of former professional women-gymnasts.
Key words:
spondilolistesis, manipulation, rehabilitation
