Controlled intervention to compare the efficacies of manual pressure release and the muscle energy technique for treating mechanical neck pain due to upper trapezius trigger points

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flow diagram of the study protocol.

Table 1 Demographic details of the groups

Variables	Group A	Group B	Group C	P-values
Numbers	15	15	15	1.000
Age (years)	21.27±3.86	22.07±4.11	21.13±3.00	1.000
Weight (kg)	51±8.72	53.33±10.09	48.2±7.76	1.000
Height (cm)	156.07±5.97	157±4.05	156±5.04	1.000
Nature of works (for 7–8 hours)
Mobile	13	11	13	1.000
Sedentary	2	4	2	1.000

Note: The value is significant if P<0.05 and nonsignificant if P>0.05.

Table 2 Within-group analysis of variables VAS, PPT, ROR, and NDI scores with their mean±SD

Variables	VAS (mean±SD)					F-value	P-value
	VAS 0	VAS 1	VAS 5	VAS 10	VAS 15
Group A	4.73±1.79	4.00±1.36	2.07±0.59	1.4±0.63	1.13±0.74	44.836	0.000
Group B	4.93±1.39	3.53±1.46	1.93±1.39	1.33±1.23	1.07±1.16	67.064	0.000
Group C	4.80±1.47	3.6±1.59	2.2±1.15	2.2±1.01	1.4±0.97	32.106	0.000
	PPT (mean±SD)
	PPT 0	PPT 1	PPT 5	PPT 10	PPT 15
Group A	0.26±0.38	0.31±0.40	0.73±0.55	0.91±0.73	0.77±0.74	5.741	0.000
Group B	0.15±0.16	0.44±0.48	0.92±0.58	1.03±0.70	1.35±0.69	17.591	0.000
Group C	0.15±0.28	0.30±0.43	0.41±0.39	0.52±0.48	0.79±0.68	5.405	0.000
	ROR (mean±SD)
	ROR 0	ROR 1	ROR 5	ROR 10	ROR 15
Group A	18.67±2.80	17.01±2.89	15.53±2.29	16.14±2.72	15.86±2.72	11.596	0.000
Group B	19.59±3.00	18.45±2.29	17.21±3.05	16.88±2.65	16.4±2.83	12.179	0.000
Group C	17.21±3.47	16.88±2.23	15.91±2.35	15.51±2.91	14.99±2.21	7.402	0.000
	NDI (mean±SD)
	NDI 0	NDI 5		NDI 15
Group A	21.56±7.76	11.27±4.50		6.73±4.23		29.732	0.000
Group B	22.19±7.83	11.41±5.56		7.78±4.83		51.152	0.000
Group C	17.51±9.57	11.17±10.82		8.43±8.23		24.287	0.000

Note: The value is significant if P<0.05 and highly significant if P<0.01.

Abbreviations: NDI, Neck Disability Index; PPT, pressure pain threshold; ROR, range of rotation; SD, standard deviation; VAS, visual analog scale.

Table 3 Between-group analysis of variables VAS, PPT, ROR, and NDI scores with their P-values

Groups	VAS 0	VAS 1	VAS 5	VAS 10	VAS 15
A vs B	0.940	0.680	0.946	0.983	0.983
A vs C	0.993	0.760	0.946	0.100	0.759
B vs C	0.973	0.992	0.801	0.068	0.650
	PPT 0	PPT 1	PPT 5	PPT 10	PPT 15
A vs B	0.592	0.703	0.610	0.877	0.099
A vs C	0.592	1.000	0.237	0.269	1.000
B vs C	1.000	0.691	0.033*	0.110	0.101
	ROR 0	ROR 1	ROR 5	ROR 10
A vs B	0.722	0.433	0.218	0.765	0.851
A vs C	0.447	0.993	0.922	0.822	0.662
B vs C	0.125	0.369	0.396	0.404	0.344
	NDI 0	NDI 5		NDI 15
A vs B	0.979	0.999		0.891
A vs C	0.429	0.999		0.743
B vs C	0.324	0.996		0.958

Note:

* The value is significant if P<0.05 and nonsignificant if P>0.05.

Abbreviations: NDI, Neck Disability Index; PPT, pressure pain threshold; ROR, range of rotation; VAS, visual analog scale.

Figure 2 Comparison of VAS scores (pain intensity) between the groups.

Abbreviation: VAS, visual analog scale.