THE EFFECT OF PILATES ON PAIN AND DISABILITY OF WOMEN WITH LOW BACK PAIN FOLLOWING SPINAL ANESTHESIA IN CESAREAN SECTION

One of the selected methods of anesthesia in cesarean is spinal anesthesia. Low Back pain is the second most common complication after headache following spinal anesthesia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of Pilates on pain and disability of women with low back pain following spinal anesthesia.

In this quasi-experimental study, 40 women with mean age of 29.4±4.75 years had low back pain following spinal anesthesia after cesarean section, and they were also randomly divided into two groups of Pilates (8 weeks, 3 times a week, 45-60 minutes each session) and control (no regular exercise). Pain and disability were assessed using the Quebec and Oswestry questionnaires before and after the intervention, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 25 software using Shapiro-Wilk test and dependent t-test at 95% confidence level (p <0.05).

There was no significant difference between the study groups with regard to age, body mass, parity, gestational age, and birth weight. Mean pain in pre-and post-test from 56.13 to 39.8(p=0.013) and also disability from 40.27 to 26.13(p=0.018) in Pilates training group compared to control group, pain from 54.07 to 53.23 and disability from 48.7 to 49.6 (p>0.05), respectively.

The results of this study showed that eight weeks of Pilates exercises can reduce pain and improve disability in women with low back pain following spinal anesthesia after cesarean section. It is recommended that midwives emphasize the importance of low back pain and recommend exercise therapy in prenatal counseling sessions.