Abstract
BackgroundThe assessment of cervical spine kinematic axial rotation performance is of great importance in the context of the study of neck sensorimotor control. However, studies addressing the influence of the level of provocation of spinal pain and the potential benefit of passive manual therapy mobilizations in patients with acute-subacute non-specific neck pain are lacking.MethodsA non-randomized prospective clinical trial with an intervention design was conducted. We investigated: (1) the test-retest reliability of kinematic variables during a fast axial head rotation task standardized with the DidRen laser test device in 42 Healthy pain-free Control Participants (HCP) (24.3 years ±6.8); (2) the differences in kinematic variables between HCP and 38 patients with Acute-subacute Non-Specific neck Pain (ANSP) assigned to two different groups according to whether their pain was localized in the upper or lower spine (46.2 years ±16.3); and (3) the effect of passive manual therapy mobilizations on kinematic variables of the neck during fast axial head rotation.Results(1) Intra-class correlation coefficients ranged from moderate (0.57 (0.06-0.80)) to excellent (0.96 (0.91-0.98)). (2) Kinematic performance during fast axial rotations of the head was significantly altered in ANSP compared to HCP (age-adjusted) for one variable: the time between peaks of acceleration and deceleration (p<0.019). No significant difference was observed between ANSP with upper vs lower spinal pain localization. (3) After the intervention, there was a significant effect on several kinematic variables, e.g., ANSP improved peak speed (p<0.007) and performance of the DidRen laser test (p<0.001), with effect sizes ranging from small to medium.Conclusion(1) The DidRen laser test is reliable. (2) A significant reduction in time between acceleration and deceleration peaks was observed in ANSP compared to HCP, but with no significant effect of spinal pain location on kinematic variables was found. (3) We found that neck pain decreased after passive manual therapy mobilizations with improvements of several kinematic variables.Trial registrationRegistration Number: NCT 04407637
Highlights
50% of the population suffers from neck pain at least once in their lifetime, with women being more at risk than men [1]
(3) We found that neck pain decreased after passive manual therapy mobilizations with improvements of several kinematic variables
We examined the test-retest reliability of kinematic neck rotation variables in Healthy pain-free Control Participants (HCP) (i.e. Aim 1) [23]; the differences in kinematic variables between HCP and patients with Acute-subacute NonSpecific neck Pain (ANSP) (i.e. Aim 2); and the effect of passive manual therapy mobilizations on neck kinematic variables (i.e. Aim3).We hypothesized that the test-retest reliability of neck kinematic rotation variables would be acceptable (Aim 1), that the kinematic variables of Acute-subacute Non-Specific neck Pain (ANSP) patients and those suffering from upper neck pain would be significantly impaired compared to HCP (Aim 2), and that neck kinematic rotation variables would improve after pain relief from passive manual therapy mobilizations (Aim 3) [37,38,39,40]
Summary
50% of the population suffers from neck pain at least once in their lifetime, with women being more at risk than men [1]. Most patients with neck pain are nowadays classified as suffering from “non-specific” neck disorder [4,5,6]. “Non-specific” refers to pain in the neck that occurs without trauma, signs or symptoms of major structural pathology, neurological signs, or specific pathology [4]. Degenerative musculoskeletal changes and/or psychosocial stress can alter the somatosensory inputs of the cervical spine in many patients with non-specific neck pain, resulting in functional changes such as lack of stability and impaired kinematic control [8,9,10]. Studies addressing the influence of the level of provoca‐ tion of spinal pain and the potential benefit of passive manual therapy mobilizations in patients with acute-subacute non-specific neck pain are lacking
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