Therapeutic Efficacy of Cervical Traction in the Management of Cervical Radiculopathy: A Control Trial

Abstract

Background: Severe pain and disability from cervical disorder is second to that of low back pain in musculoskeletal practice. Methods: Forty eight patients who met the inclusion criteria were placed into experimental (n=24) and control (n=24) group randomly. Participants in both groups received massage, cryotherapy and active exercises. Cervical traction was administered to experimental group for 15 minutes, thrice per week for four weeks while the other group served as control. Verbal rating scale (VRS) and Neck Disability Pain Index (NDI) were used as outcome measures. Data were analyzed using descriptive, dependent -t-test and independent-t-test. Results: There was a significant improvement in the pretreatment and post treatment pain intensity (t=10.75, p< 0.001) and neck functional disability (t=2.42, p=0.03) of participants in experimental group. There was a significant difference (t=-3.98, p=0.006) in the post treatment pain intensity between the cervical traction and control group. Conclusion: It could be concluded that application of continuous cervical traction can significantly reduce pain intensity of patients with cervical radiculopathy. AbstractKey words: Cervical traction, cryotherapy, neck disability index, and verbal rating scale.

Comparative Effects of Sustained Natural Apophyseal Glides and Mechanical Traction in the Management of Cervical Radiculopathy: A Randomized Control Study

“…Mechanical cervical traction was also found to produce significant reduction in pain intensity in this study, this was in accordance with study conducted by Cleland, et al, Ojoawo, et al and Abid, et al, where MCT produced significant reduction in pain intensity in cervical radiculopathy and improvement on neck disability [10,28,29]. The significant reduction observed was due to decrease in radicular symptoms.…”

“…A study by Ojoawo, et al, on the therapeutic efficacy of cervical traction in the management of cervical radiculopathy; a significant improvement in the pretreatment and post-treatment pain intensity and neck functional disability of participants in experimental group, and a significant difference in the post-treatment pain intensity between the cervical traction and control group were reported [10]. Thus, both SNAGS and MCT have been reported to effect changes in the symptoms and disabilities accompanying cervical radiculopathy [9,10]. This study was designed to explore the effects of SNAGS and MCT on cervical radiculopathy to determine which one is more effective.…”

“…Its clinical application was based almost exclusively on convention, with little attempt to provide a biological basis and little, if any, empirical evidence as yet to support its efficacy [9]. A study by Ojoawo, et al, on the therapeutic efficacy of cervical traction in the management of cervical radiculopathy; a significant improvement in the pretreatment and post-treatment pain intensity and neck functional disability of participants in experimental group, and a significant difference in the post-treatment pain intensity between the cervical traction and control group were reported [10]. Thus, both SNAGS and MCT have been reported to effect changes in the symptoms and disabilities accompanying cervical radiculopathy [9,10].…”

Comparative effectiveness of transverse oscillatory pressure and cervical traction in the management of cervical radiculopathy: A randomized controlled study

“…A systematic review by Graham et al 27 also reported that there was moderate evidence to support the use of mechanical intermittent CT in the management of cervical disorder. Ojoawo et al 28 in their study reported that CT is effective in the management of CR. CT in addition to other exercises is the major treatment technique in many facilities in Nigeria physiotherapy clinic to manage CR but there are paucity of data on its efficacy in Nigerian environment.…”