The Australian Physiotherapy Association
Recommendations from the Australian Physiotherapy Association on low back pain, clinical decision rules, incentive spirometry & frozen shoulder. The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) is the peak body representing the interests of Australian physiotherapists and their patients. The APA is a national organisation with non-autonomous state and territory branches and specialty subgroups. The organisation has more than 19,000 members and over 300 members in volunteer positions on committees or working parties.
3.
Don’t request imaging for acute ankle trauma unless indicated by the Ottawa Ankle Rules (localised bone tenderness or inability to weight-bear as defined in the rules).
Most clinically significant acute ankle injuries can be diagnosed with history, examination, and selective use of plain radiography. The Ottawa Ankle Rules dictate selective use of plain radiography in patients with acute ankle injury is useful in identifying patients who have sustained clinically important fracture, dislocation, and osteochondral injuries. However, acute ligamentous injuries involving the anterior talofibular ligament can be diagnosed clinically and treated symptomatically. When there are persistent symptoms, which raise suspicion of either instability or other internal derangement such as osteochondral injury, MRI can be used if the non-urgent weight bearing x-rays show no abnormality.
Supporting evidence
- Stiell IG, Greenberg GH, McKnight RD, Nair RC, McDowell I, Worthington JR. A study to develop clinical decision rules for the use of radiography in acute ankle injuries. Ann Emerg Med 1992;21:384-90.
- Bachmann LM, Kolb E, Koller MT, Steurer J, ter Riet G. Accuracy of Ottawa Ankle Rules to exclude fractures of the ankle and mid-foot: systematic review. BMJ 2003;326:417-19.
- Dowling S, Spooner CH, Liang Y, et al. Accuracy of Ottawa Ankle Rules to exclude fractures of the ankle and midfoot in children: a meta-analysis. Acad Emerg Med 2009;16:277-87.
How this list was made
The APA sought nominations from fellows and associates of the Australian College of Physiotherapy, directors of the Physiotherapy Evidence Database, clinical specialist APA members and academic physiotherapists to form an expert panel. The APA invited all members to submit evidence about interventions related to physiotherapy that should be questioned. From members’ submissions and the expert group’s research, the expert group formed a shortlist of 8 recommendations. The expert group then considered the shortlist in terms of the extent of the health problem, usage of the test or intervention, and the evidence that the test or intervention is inappropriate. From this analysis, the expert panel selected five recommendations to put to APA members. In a second round of consultation, the APA received nearly 2500 responses, and almost 900 comments. The expert panel then considered feedback and refined the recommendations. This resulted in the 6 recommendations put forward below, for which there was overwhelming majority support.
- 1 Don’t request imaging for patients with non-specific low back pain and no indicators of a serious cause for low back pain.
- 2 Don’t request imaging of the cervical spine in trauma patients, unless indicated by a validated decision rule
- 3 Don’t request imaging for acute ankle trauma unless indicated by the Ottawa Ankle Rules (localised bone tenderness or inability to weight-bear as defined in the rules).
- 4 Don't routinely use incentive spirometry after upper abdominal and cardiac surgery
- 5 Avoid using electrotherapy modalities in the management of patients with low back pain.
- 6 Don’t provide ongoing manual therapy for patients with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder