Confiabilidade de testes clínicos para avaliação da instabilidade lombar

Abstract

Introduction: The lumbar instability is defined as the loss of the ability of the spine to maintain their standard of physiological motion after unexpected disturbances or forces generated by the distal segments of the body, without presenting neurological deficit, deformity and crippling pain. The diagnosis of lumbar instability is controversial because there is still no consensus on the clinical and radiological criteria. There is a dearth of scientific studies confirming the validity and reliability of methods for assessing lumbar instability, making it difficult, often targeting the most appropriate treatment. Given the above, the objective of this study was to investigate the reliability of clinical tests for the assessment of lumbar instability. Methodology: Conducted literature review in PubMed, Lilacs, SciELO and PEDro, with articles published from 2002 until August 2012 that evaluated the reliability of manual testing for lumbar instability. There were no restrictions regarding the characteristics of the study samples. Were excluded texts that investigated the lumbar instability only by imaging. Results: Six studies were included in this review, respecting the inclusion criteria. Three studies evaluated the test of instability in prone and the other three investigated tests of muscle coordination. Conclusion: The studies analyzed showed moderate to almost perfect reliability, and is therefore considered important in clinical identification of lumbar instability. However, these results should be interpreted with caution and in combination with other tests in the evaluation process because, despite good reliability, many studies have examined the validity of tests for lumbar instability. Further studies are needed to investigate the validity and reliability of tests for lumbar instability.