Athletic training aids spinal fusion recovery: workers' comp patients.(Clinical Rounds)(Brief Article)

CHICAGO -- A program combining the principles of sports performance training and work conditioning significantly improved functioning in patients following lumbar fusion surgery, said Gregory E Steil of the Athletic and Therapeutic Institute, Willowbrook, Ill.

Mr. Steil and his colleagues studied 45 patients, aged 20-54, who underwent spinal fusion surgery from 1998 to 2001 as part of their workers' compensation treatment, and who were discharged from traditional physical therapy programs prior to entering the study, he said at a meeting sponsored by the North American Spine Society.

The sports-based, work-conditioning program relies on frequent training …