Comparison of the immediate effects of the contralateral cervical rotation technique to the ipsilateral posteroanterior technique in the treatement of unilateral mechanical neck pain

Abstract

To compare the immediate effects of the use of the contralateral cervical rotation technique to the ipsilateral posteroanterior (IPA) technique on neck pain and active cervical range of motion (ROM) in the treatment of unilateral mechanical neck pain (UMNP). Sixty-six patients with UMNP with mean aged (SD) 43.6 (12.2) years were recruited. The subjects were randomly allocated into 3 groups; the rotation, IPA, and control groups by sealed envelops with assigned group. The blinded assessor established the outcome measurements including pain intensity, active cervical ROM and global perceived effect (GPE). Paired t-test was used to analyze within group effect and One-way ANOVA: Multiple comparisons was used to analyze the different effects among the 3 groups. All data were analyzed using the SPSS program version 17.0 for Windows with a significant level set at 0.05. There was no statistically significant difference in pain reduction and improving active cervical ROM between the rotation and the IPA group (p>0.05). However, statistically significant differences in pain reduction and improving in almost all active cervical ROMs were noted when the rotation and IPA groups were compared to the control group (p<0.05).