SynthesisThe Journal of manual & manipulative therapy2026
Screening of the thoracolumbar spine is almost completely absent in trials evaluating conservative management for sacroiliac joint pain: a systematic review of 43 randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSacroiliac joint (SIJ) pain is a common diagnosed lumbosacral condition with historical diagnostic uncertainty. Recent literature suggests that effective diagnosis of SIJ pain should begin with screening the thoracolumbar spine, as SIJ regional pain is often linked to referral patterns originating from this area.
objectiveThe aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the screening methods of the thoracolumbar spine in randomized controlled trials (RCT) for the evaluation and treatment of SIJ pain or dysfunction.
methodsA search of PubMed, CINAHL, and CENTRAL was conducted for RCTs published from inception up to 31 March 2024. RCTs focusing on SIJ pain as the primary diagnosis, treated with conservative interventions such as manual therapy, exercise, or modalities in adult patients, were included. Data on thoracolumbar spine screening methods were extracted, categorized, and reported with means, standard deviations, and frequency counts. The Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool was used to assess each RCT.
resultsA total of 2,719 articles were retrieved. After removing duplicates and screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, 43 RCTs were included for data extraction. Two trials (4.7%) performed a reasonable thoracolumbar spine screening process, nine (20.9%) partially completed, and 32 (74.4%) did not perform a thoracolumbar screening process prior to formulating an SIJ diagnosis. Every RCT had at least some of risk of bias. DISCUSSION/
conclusionMore than 95% of RCT's reported minimal-to-no thoracolumbar screening process prior to developing an SIJ diagnosis, highlighting significant variability and scarcity. The role of screening the thoracolumbar spine prior to diagnosing SIJ pain is notably underrepresented in RCTs providing treatment recommendations for this condition, undermining the strength of the conclusions derived from these studies. This finding highlights the need for further research to establish a standardized clinical thoracolumbar screening process for SIJ pain to ultimately improve patient outcomes for this condition.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.