INTRODUCTION: Low back pain (LBP) is a major cause of physical disability in the world. The origin of this condition can be due to differents causes, with a specific cause or of unknown mechanical origin, being characterized as unspecific. In this case a physical therapy treatment approach with manual therapy is relevant, which includes the Muscle Energy Technique (MET) classified as a common conservative treatment for pathologies of the spine, mainly in LBP and disability. This study assessed the effectiveness of the muscle energy technique on nonspecific low back pain. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Patients with acute, subacute or chronic non-specific low back pain. The primary outcomes were pain and disability. This study was designed by a systematic review and meta-analysis, registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020219295). For the report and methodological definitions of this study, the recommendations of the PRISMA protocol and the Cochrane collaboration, were followed, respectively. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: The search yielded 164 citations, which 19 were eligible randomised trials were included in the review (n = 609 patients with low back pain). The methodological quality of the studies averaged 4.2 points, with an interval of 2 to 7 points. Three RCTs showed satisfactory methodological quality (PEDro score >= 6). For patients with chronic LBP, a significant result on pain (but with a small and clinically unimportant effect) in favor of MET versus other (MD =-0.51, 95% CI -0.93 to -0.09, p = 0.02, n = 376, studies = 11, I2 = 80%). In patients with subacute LBP, MET enabled a significant and moderate effect to reduce pain intensity when compared to the control group (MD =-1.32, 95% CI -2.57 to -0.06, p = 0,04, n = 120, studies = 3, I2=88%). No significant effects were observed for the disability. CONCLUSIONS: MET is not considered an efficient treatment to improve the incapacity of the lumbar spine, but it may be beneficial in reducing the intensity of LBP, although showing a small clinical effect in chronic LBP and a moderate effect in subacute LBP.

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