Studies of pulsed electromagnetic fields, approved by the FDA in 1979 for the treatment of bone fractures and non-unions, have suggested that this treatment can up-regulate anti-inflammatory factors, and down-regulate pro-inflammatory factors. This study was designed to assess the efficacy of electromagnetic transduction therapy (EMTT) for the treatment of low back pain (LBP).

Subjects included adults presenting with nonspecific LBP, randomized to conventional noninvasive treatment (n＝44), or a combination of noninvasive treatment plus EMTT (n＝44) for six weeks. The noninvasive treatment included physiotherapy with core stabilization, isometric strengthening and heat plus non-opiate analgesics. The EMTT group received two sessions per week for a total of eight sessions. The primary outcome measure was change of disability as measured by the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score and the change in subjective pain as measured by a Visual Analog Scale score (VAS).

The VAS pain score improved at 12 weeks in the control and treatment groups by 48.8% and 64.7% respectively (P<0.001). This difference was also significant in favor of the treatment group at six weeks (P<0.001). In addition, the ODI scores improved more in the EMTT group as compared to the control group at both six (P<0.001) and 12 weeks (P<0.001).

This study of patients with low back pain found that electromagnetic transduction therapy may be useful as an adjunct to conventional therapy for reducing pain and disability.