Manipulation Under Anesthesia (MUA) is a procedure that is intended for patients that suffer from sometimes acute, but mostly chronic musculoskeletal disorders in conjunction with biomechanical aberrancies. These individuals have also been unresponsive to previous conservative therapy. Etiology of their pain can be disc bulge/herniation, chronic sprain/strain, failed back surgery, myofacial pain syndromes in conjunction with those listed below. The procedure is extremely beneficial for the patient that has muscle spasm accompanied with pain and terminal joint range of motion loss. These types of patients typically respond well to manipulation/physical therapy/exercise, but their relief may only be temporary (days to weeks). To ensure good results with a procedure of this type, one of the most important considerations is patient selection.
Indications for MUA:
- Bulging, protruded, prolapsed or herniated discs without free fragment and are not surgical candidates.
- Frozen or fixated articulations from adhesion formation.
- Failed low back surgery.
- Compression syndromes with or without radiculopathies caused from adhesion formation, but not associated with osteophytic entrapment.
- Restricted motion which causes pain and apprehension from the patient, but manipulation is the therapy of choice.
- Unresponsive to manipulation and adjustment when they are the treatment of choice.
- Unresponsive pain which interferes with the function of daily living and sleep patterns, but which fall within the parameters for manipulative treatment.
- Unresponsive muscle contracture which is preventing normal daily activities and function.
- Post traumatic syndrome injuries from acceleration/deceleration or acceleration/deceleration types of injuries which result in painful exacerbations of chronic fixations.
- Chronic recurrent neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction syndromes which result in a regular periodic treatment series that are always exacerbations of the same condition.
- Neuromusculoskeletal conditions which are not surgical candidates, but have reached MMI, especially with occupational injuries.