Spinal Manipulative Therapy: Translating from Research to Clinical Practice

Short-term effects of spinal thrust joint manipulation in patients with chronic neck pain: a randomized clinical trial

“…18 One of the main limitations of previous studies is that simply using cervical or thoracic spine thrust joint manipulation on its own may not be representative of usual clinical practice, as therapists usually apply different manipulative interventions at different levels for the management of patients with mechanical neck pain. 19 We do not know if the application of thrust joint manipulation to different spinal levels would increase the effect of the application of only one intervention. Therefore, the purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to compare the effects of an isolated application of cervical spine thrust joint manipulation vs. the application of a full combination of cervical, cervico-thoracic and thoracic spine thrust joint manipulation on neck pain, disability and cervical range of motion in individuals with chronic mechanical neck pain.…”

Predictors for Identifying Patients With Mechanical Neck Pain Who Are Likely to Achieve Short-Term Success With Manipulative Interventions Directed at the Cervical and Thoracic Spine

“…4 Inconsistencies may be attributable to the fact that mechanical neck pain is a heterogeneous pain condition, and it is commonly seen in clinical practice that not all patients with mechanical neck pain benefit from the same intervention. 10 Recently, there have been a number of studies identifying the prognostic variables to guide interventions for the management of low back pain, 11 tension-type headache, 12 ankle sprains, 13 cervicogenic headache, 14 and shoulder pain. 15 Two of these studies purported to identify predictors for identifying patients with neck pain who will benefit from either cervical 16,17 or thoracic 18 spine manipulation.…”