This study will investigate the immediate and short-term effects of upper thoracic manipulation versus sham upper thoracic manipulation on Pain intensity, Cervical ROM, the myoelectric activity of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and upper trapezius muscle during Maximum voluntary isometric contraction.
This study will investigate the immediate and short-term effects of upper thoracic manipulation versus sham upper thoracic manipulation on Pain intensity measured by the visual analogue scale, Cervical ROM measured by CROM, the myoelectric activity of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and upper trapezius muscle during Maximum voluntary isometric contraction measured by Neuro-Soft using surface electrodes. All outcomes will be measured Pre-intervention, Immediately Post-Intervention, One-week Post-intervention, Two-week post-intervention.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
42
Segmental mobility will be assessed using posteroanterior central vertebral pressure and posteroanterior unilateral vertebral pressure. It will be done while the patient lies in a prone position and the examiner stands at the level of the patient's head. Afterwards, the subjects in the thoracic manipulation group will be asked to lie in a prone position on a standard examination table and they were marked on both sides of the zygapophyseal joint of the selected segments including levels from T1- T4. Subjects will then be instructed to perform deep inhalation and exhalation and at the end of exhalation, the Clinician will perform thoracic manipulation (screw thrust technique) at the selected segmental level/s. This maneuver will be repeated for a maximum of two attempts in case of no hearing of a pop sound. It will be performed by an experienced physiotherapist with more than 10-year experience.
Segmental mobility will be assessed using posteroanterior central vertebral pressure and posteroanterior unilateral vertebral pressure. It will be done while the patient lies in a prone position and the examiner stands at the level of the patient's head. Afterwards, the subjects in the thoracic manipulation group will be asked to lie in a prone position on a standard examination table and they were marked on both sides of the zygapophyseal joint of the selected segments including levels from T1- T4. Subjects will then be instructed to perform deep inhalation and exhalation and at the end of exhalation, the Clinician will just the place the hands on the selected levels in the same hand placement of Thoracic manipulation group (screw thrust technique) without applying the manipulation. It will be performed by an experienced physiotherapist with more than 10-year experience.
CairoU
Giza, Egypt
RECRUITINGFaculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University
Giza, Egypt
RECRUITINGPain intensity
A hard copy of the Visual analogue scale will be given to the patient who will be asked to mark a perpendicular line between the two borders of the scale to express his/her pain level. It will be measured pre-treatment, post-treatment, and each week for 2 weeks. The level of pain will be measured at the end range of active extension.
Time frame: Pre-intervention, Immediately Post-Intervention, One-week Post-intervention, Two-week post-intervention.
Cervical Range of Motion
The cervical ROM measurements will be performed with the participants sitting on a chair with instructions to sit in an upright posture. Prior to starting measurement, the patient will be asked to do these movements 5 times in each direction for familiarization and as a warm-up. The participant will sit erect with the thoracic spine away from the back of the chair, arms hanging at the sides, and feet flat on the floor. The participants were instructed to stare at a spot marked on a wall in front of them. Flexion, Extension, right and left side bending and rotation will be measured. Each measurement will be repeated for total three times.
Time frame: Pre-intervention, Immediately Post-Intervention, One-week Post-intervention, Two-week post-intervention.
Sternocleidomastoid muscle activity
Regarding EMG measurement of the sternocleidomastoid, the electrodes will be positioned over the sternocleidomastoid muscle at half the distance between the mastoid process of the temporal bone and the jugular notch of the sternum, slightly posterior to the center of the belly of the muscle, and parallel to the muscle fibers. The reference electrode will be attached to the proximal portion of the sternum with tape. Each participant will perform three 5-s MVIC for each muscle. Each subject will be asked to increase the force against the assessor's hand, reach the maximum effort, and hold it for EMG recording. The mean value of the three trials for the maximal contraction in each muscle will be taken. The patient will be supine lying and fully rested for the measurement of the SCM activity. To measure the MVIC of the Sternocleidomastoid muscle, the patient will be asked to flex the cervical spine against maximal resistance from the examiner on the forehead area while supine lying
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Time frame: Pre-intervention, Immediately Post-Intervention, One-week Post-intervention, Two-week post-intervention.
Upper trapezius muscle activity
The Patient will be sitting in a chair with erect posture, hands supported on the thighs, feet parallel and supported on the floor, and eyes open for measurement of the upper trapezius muscle activity. The active and the reference electrodes will be placed 2 cm lateral to the midpoint between C7 and posterior acromion with 2 cm inter-electrode distance and ground placed on C7. Each participant will perform three 5-s MVIC for each muscle. Each subject will be asked to increase the force against the assessor's hand, reach the maximum effort, and hold it for EMG recording. The mean value of the three trials for the maximal contraction in each muscle was taken as the MVIC. The rest time between each maximum contraction will be 30 seconds. To measure the MVIC of the upper trapezius muscle, the patient will be asked to abduct his/her shoulder to 90 degrees with the elbow fully extended against maximum resistance which will be applied superior to the elbow to resist abduction.
Time frame: Pre-intervention, Immediately Post-Intervention, One-week Post-intervention, Two-week post-intervention.