Trigger Point Therapy Versus Manipulation Correcting Thoracic Manipulable Lesion

Relative Effectiveness of Trigger Point Therapy Compared to Spinal Manipulation in Correcting a Thoracic Spinal Manipulable Lesion in Subjects With Mechanical Thoracic Back Pain: a Randomised Trial

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Phase 2

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01123226

Enrollment

Registered

2010-05-14

Start date

2010-09-30

Completion date

2011-06-30

Last updated

2010-05-14

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Spinal Manipulable Lesion, Somatic Dysfunction

Brief summary

There will be no difference between trigger point therapy and spinal manipulation in correcting a spine joint dysfunction in the back

Interventions

PROCEDUREspinal manipulation

A maximum of two high velocity low amplitude spinal manipulations to one dysfunctional spine joint

PROCEDUREtrigger point therapy

The thumb will apply firm pressure to a trigger point in the paravertebral multifidus and rotatores muscles associated with the spine joint dysfunction using the barrier approach. This will be held until the barrier releases and this will continue until the trigger point is inactivated or 3 minutes has passed.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 64 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* mechanical thoracic back pain * age 18-64 * presence of at least one spinal manipulable lesion * presence of a trigger point associated with the spinal manipulable lesion * able to lie prone on a treatment table for 15 minutes

Exclusion criteria

* absolute contraindications to spinal manipulation * specific thoracic back pain * bleeding diathesis, use of anticoagulants, long-term corticosteroid use * involved in litigation for thoracic back pain * inability to read or write English fluently * treatment with manipulation or myofascial therapy within past three days

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Correction of spinal manipulable lesion	Immediate effect of one treatment	Dichotomous data either lesion is corrected or not.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in pressure pain threshold over the involved spinous process	Immediate effect of one treatment	The point at which sensation changes from that of pressure to pain is measured in Kg/cm2

Countries

United Kingdom

Contacts

Primary ContactHugh A Gemmell, DC, EdD

hgemmell@aecc.ac.uk44 1202436200

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026