Effect of Upper Thoracic Manipulation on Neck Pain and Selected Muscle Activities

Launched by CAIRO UNIVERSITY · Apr 11, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is looking at how a specific treatment called upper thoracic manipulation can help people with chronic neck pain. The researchers want to compare this treatment to a placebo (a sham treatment that doesn't have any real effect) to see how well it works in reducing pain and improving neck movement. They will also examine how this treatment affects the muscle activity in two key neck muscles during certain exercises.

To participate in this study, you should be between 18 and 40 years old and have been experiencing neck pain for at least three months, which may also include pain in your shoulder or arms. You should have difficulty moving your neck and have specific muscle restrictions, but not have conditions like nerve pain or a history of certain serious injuries. If you join the study, you’ll receive either the real treatment or the sham treatment, and the researchers will track your pain and muscle activity over a short period. This trial is currently recruiting participants, so if you think you might qualify, it could be a great opportunity to explore new options for managing neck pain.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• 1. Male and female subjects diagnosed and classified as having chronic non-specific NP with mobility disorders based on clinical guidelines of NP:
• • Having NP for at least 3 months that may be associated with referred shoulder or upper extremity pain (Blanpied et al., 2017; Erdem et al., 2021; Puntumetakul et al., 2015).
• • Present with a limitation of cervical ROM and their pain can be provoked by sustained end-range spinal movements or positions will be included (Blanpied et al., 2017).
• • Patients present with unilateral or bilateral symptoms will be included (Blanpied et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2015).
• • 2. Age between 18-40 (J. Dunning \& Rushton, 2009)
• • 3. Negative four tests of the Wainner cluster to exclude NP with radiating pain (Wainner et al., 2003).
• • 4. Hypomobility of at least one of the upper thoracic vertebrae (T1-T4) during segmental mobility assessment (Ssavedra-Hernández et al., 2011).
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Subjects diagnosed as cervical radiculopathy or myelopathy (Ssavedra-Hernández et al., 2011).
• • 2. A history of whiplash injury, past cervical or thoracic surgery, rheumatoid arthritis, spinal fracture, heart disease, a recent significant trauma, and meningitis (Joshi et al., 2020; Puntumetakul et al., 2015).
• • 3. The presence of contraindications of spinal manipulation as spinal infection and spinal osteoporosis(Ssavedra-Hernández et al., 2011).