Scientific article
Review
English

The flexion relaxation phenomenon in nonspecific chronic low back pain: prevalence, reproducibility and flexion–extension ratios. A systematic review and meta-analysis

First online date2021-09-22
Abstract

Purpose: The flexion relaxation phenomenon (FRP) is characterized by the reduction of paraspinal muscle activity at maximum trunk flexion. The FRP is reported to be altered (persistence of spinal muscle activity) in nonspecific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP) and is considered a promising biomarker. The aim of this systematic review was to synthetize current knowledge on FRP in the NSCLBP population regarding prevalence, the reliability of FRP measurement using surface electromyography (sEMG), the average value, and variation of the relaxation ratios (RR). Methods: Five databases were searched (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Sciences, Cochrane Library, Pedro). A qualitative analysis was done for all included studies and meta-analysis studying prevalence, mean value of flexion relaxation ratio (FRR) and extension relaxation ratio (ERR), and difference between asymptomatic and NSCLBP FRR.

Keywords
  • Chronic low back pain
  • Electromyography
  • Flexion relaxation phenomenon
  • Paraspinal muscles
  • Trunk flexion
Citation (ISO format)
GOUTERON, Anaïs et al. The flexion relaxation phenomenon in nonspecific chronic low back pain: prevalence, reproducibility and flexion–extension ratios. A systematic review and meta-analysis. In: European spine journal, 2021. doi: 10.1007/s00586-021-06992-0
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Article (Published version)
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Secondary files (4)
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0940-6719
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Technical informations

Creation23/09/2021 11:47:00
First validation23/09/2021 11:47:00
Update time16/03/2023 01:30:32
Status update16/03/2023 01:30:30
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