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Table 1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria
| Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria |
|---|---|
| • Low back pain, lower limb pain is radiatingly distributed and correlates with the involved PNP as proven by MRI | • Congenital abnormalities, such as lumbosacral vertebrae crack, spondylolysis and transitional vertebrae, etcetera |
| • Two of four possible signs of neurological disorders: muscle atrophy, weakness, paresthesia and change in reflection that appeared in the nerve distribution areas | • Injury, such as fracture |
| • Inflammatory and metabolic diseases, such as tuberculosis, ankylosing spondylitis, or osteoporosis | |
| • Either straight leg raising test or femoral nerve traction test is positive | • Degenerative diseases, such as degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, degenerative lumbar instability, lumbar degenerative scoliosis and lumbar spinal stenosis, etcetera |
| • EMG or NCV shows nerve root injury correlated with involved segment | |
| • MRI image reveals a PNP of a single lumbar segment in accordance with the nerve root irritation signs detected by the examiner | • Vascular and visceral reflex low back pain, such as digestive system diseases, gynecological diseases, or abdominal aortic aneurysm |
| • Tenderness, swelling and thickness of supraspinous ligament could be palpated on the involved segment. Regional and/or radiating tenderness could be irritated by paraspinal palpation | • Spinal tumors from inside and outside spinal canal, such as large spinal arachnoid cysts, or diabetic peripheral neuropathy |
| • Patients receiving oral medication, physical therapy and other modality | |
| • Participants suffered with acute pain no more than 6 weeks | • Patients with foot-drop caused by peroneal nerve paralysis |
| • NRS score is more than or equal to 6 and ODI score is more than or equal to 40 | • Patients with saddle anesthesia or defecation dysfunction caused by CES |
| • Participants must have no prior experience of being treated by FSM (see below) | • Patients with depression, anxiety and other mental disorders |
| • Participants must sign the informed consent | • Patients with open lumbar surgeries |
