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Abstract
Objective: To determine the short term effects of cervical manipulation and mobilization in patients with cervical pain and limited motion. Design: Seventy-six consecutive outpatients were studied in one-group-repeated design without long-term follow-up.
Setting: An university sports medicine clinic in Ankara, Turkey
Patients: All patients had unilateral neck pain without neurological deficit. Ninety-six consecutive patients ( forty-two men and fifty-four women; Group I: 76 and Group II: 20 patients), aged between 20 and 55 years, were selected on the basis of clinical suspicion for mechanical cervical problems between January 1994 and December 1998. All patients complained of cervical pain and/or stiffness on one side for a period of one week to 4 months. All patients completed the study.
Interventions: Group I (study group) received mobilization including general manual traction, gliding and rotational mobilization and Group II (control group) infrared lights, TENS and exercise three times a week for a period of 3 weeks. Group I also received a single cervical manipulation composed of gentle passive forceful movement (Grade C) as described by Cyriax.
Main Outcome Measures: Pain and active range of motion were assessed before, immediately after and the day following treatment. Cervical range of motion was evaluated with a Cyriax Neck Form and pain was measured by using a visual analogue scale.
Results: The results showed mobilization and manipulation techniques increased active range of motion and decreased pain immediately after treatment (p<0.05). Medication usage of all patients except four decreased after treatment.
Conclusions: This study showed the effectiveness of manipulation and mobilization techniques in the short-term on seventy-six patients with mechanical neck pain. Further controlled studies are required to determine any long-term benefits of manipulation and mobilization for mechanical neck pain.
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