Multimodal physiotherapy treatment based on a biobehavioral approach in a patient with chronic low back pain: A case report

Low back pain and its chronification are among the most common causes of disabilities worldwide. This is why multiple interventions and treatment approaches have been investigated around this pathology in recent years. Currently, the evidence is increasingly leaning towards treating chronic low back pain with a treatment based on the patient's centered biopsychosocial model. This case report presents the evaluation and treatment of a 43-year-old woman with chronic low back pain using a multimodal physiotherapy based on a biobehavioral approach. In the physiotherapy intervention, the patient's pain characteristics and somatosensory, motor-functional, and affective-cognitive states were first evaluated. Subsequently, a multimodal treatment including therapeutic exercise, pain neuroscience education, and orthopedic manual and physical therapies was applied for a total of 14 sessions over a period of 9 weeks. Finally, a post-intervention evaluation and at the one-month follow-up were carried out, in which it was observed that the treatment had significantly improved the patient's symptomatology and their general state. This case suggests that a multimodal physiotherapy treatment based on a biobehavioral approach is an effective option to improve pain symptoms and somatosensory, motor-functional, and affective-cognitive aspects in the reported patient; therefore, a treatment of these characteristics may be an option for patients with chronic low back pain.