Abstract
Objective
To investigate the immediate and 1-year effects of a multimodal program, with cervical
lordosis and anterior head translation (AHT) rehabilitation, on the intensity of pain,
disability, and peripheral and central nervous system function in patients with discogenic
cervical radiculopathy (CR).
Design
A randomized controlled trial with 1-year and 10-week follow-up.
Setting
University research laboratory.
Participants
Patients (N=60; 27 men) with chronic discogenic CR, a defined hypolordotic cervical
spine, and AHT posture were randomly assigned to a control group (n=30; mean age,
43.9±6.2y) or an intervention group (n=30; mean age, 41.5±3.7y).
Interventions
Both groups received the multimodal program; in addition, the intervention group received
the Denneroll cervical traction device.
Main Outcome Measures
AHT distance, cervical lordosis, arm pain intensity, neck pain intensity, and disability
(Neck Disability Index [NDI]), dermatomal somatosensory evoked potentials (DSSEPs),
and central somatosensory conduction time (N13–N20). Measures were assessed at 3 time
intervals: baseline, 10 weeks, and 1-year follow-up.
Results
After 10 weeks of treatment, between-group analysis showed equal improvement in arm
pain intensity (P=.40), neck pain intensity (P=.60), and latency of DSSEPs (P=.60) in both intervention and control groups. However, also at 10 weeks, there were
significant differences between groups, favoring the intervention group for cervical
lordosis (P<.0005), AHT distance (P<.0005), amplitude of DSSEPs (P<.0005), N13 to N20 conduction time (P<.0005), and NDI (P<.0005). Although at 1-year follow-up, between-group analysis identified a regression
back to baseline values for the control group. Thus, all variables were significantly
different, favoring the intervention group at 1-year follow-up: cervical lordosis
(P<.0005), AHT distance (P<.0005), latency and amplitude of DSSEPs (P<.0005), N13 to N20 conduction time (P<.0005), intensity of neck and arm pain, and NDI (P<.0005).
Conclusions
The addition of the Denneroll cervical orthotic device to a multimodal program positively
affected discogenic CR outcomes at long-term follow-up. We speculate that improved
cervical lordosis and reduced AHT contributed to our findings.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AHT (anterior head translation), CR (cervical radiculopathy), DSSEP (dermatomal somatosensory evoked potential), NDI (Neck Disability Index)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 27, 2016
Footnotes
Supported by Chiropractic BioPhysics NonProfit, Inc.
Clinical Trial Registration No.: PACTR201604001574574.
Disclosures: D.E.H. is the CEO of Chiropractic BioPhysics Seminars, Inc., that distributes the cervical Denneroll product to health care providers (physicians, chiropractors, and physical therapists) in the United States. The Denneroll device is sold via prescription only to patients through licensed health care providers. And as such he profits from the sale of the Denneroll device to U.S. health care practitioners. The other authors have nothing to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
