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Glendale, CA 91206
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Back Protection when Faced with Sudden and Shifting Loads

Posted on: 03/15/2004
What happens when a nurse or other trained health care worker is lifting a patient who falls? The worker tries to catch the patient. This puts a sudden, heavy load on the worker's back. How does the body protect itself in these cases?

That's the focus of this study from the National Institute of Occupational Health in Denmark. Studies have been done in the past using small loads. The pressure inside the abdomen has been measured in different lifting situations for healthy subjects and for people with low back pain. This pressure is called intra-abdominal pressure (IAP).

In this study, the IAP was measured in 10 well-trained judo and jujitsu fighters. There were five women and five men in the study. Each one was subjected to a trunk load that shifted during lifting. This is like handling a patient who falls. IAP was measured by putting a catheter inside the stomach. A specific math formula was used to calculate the load on the low back during the patient fall.

The researchers found high IAPs during the lifting activity with load shifts. Both the size and the speed of the IAP help stabilize the spine and protect it from injury. Judo and jujitsu fighters are used to throwing the full weight of another person to the ground. They do this with the spine twisted and bent in an awkward position. Yet they don't have a high rate of back injury.

The authors conclude that trained workers with strong abdominal muscles can cope with sudden loads. They don't think the average nurse has enough strength to do that. On average, the women in this study were 53 percent stronger than an untrained female of the same age. Anyone with back pain is at greater risk for injury when exposed to sudden load shifts either in sports or at work.

References:
Morten Essendrop PhD, MSc, et al. Fast Development of High Intra-abdominal Pressure when a Trained Participant is Exposed to Heavy, Sudden Trunk Loads. In Spine. January 1, 2004. Vol. 29. No. 1. Pp. 94-99.

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