Thoracic Manipulation and Mobilization for Neck Pain

CHANGES IN PRESSURE PAIN SENSITIVITY AND NECK PAIN AFTER THORACIC THRUST MANIPULATION OR NON-THRUST MOBILIZATION IN PATIENTS WITH MECHANICAL NECK PAIN

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02051478

Enrollment

Registered

2014-01-31

Start date

2012-09-30

Completion date

2013-06-30

Last updated

2014-01-31

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

Conditions

Neck Pain

Keywords

manipulation, mobilization, spine, pressure pain

Brief summary

The purpose of this randomized clinical trial was to examine the widespread effects of thoracic spine thrust manipulation and thoracic non-thrust mobilization on pressure pain sensitivity and neck pain intensity in patients with chronic mechanical neck pain.

Interventions

OTHERThoracic mobilization

Patients will receive 20 seconds bouts of grade III-IV of central posterior-anterior (PA) non-thrust mobilization from T3 to T6 spinous process as described by Maitland et al for an overall intervention time of approximately 2 minutes

OTHERThoracic manipulation

A high-velocity, end range, anterior-posterior thrust applied through the elbows to the mid-thoracic spine will be applied

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

20 Years to 65 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* mechanical idiopathic neck pain * bilateral pain symptoms * chronic pain (\>3 months of duration)

Exclusion criteria

* whiplash injury * previous spine surgery * diagnosis of cervical radiculopathy or myelopathy * diagnosis of fibromyalgia * having undergone any physical therapy intervention in the previous year * pregnancy

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in Pressure pain thresholds	Change between baseline and 1o minutes immediate after the intervention	The amount of pressure applied for the pressure sensation to first change to pain will be assessed with an electronic algometer (Somedic AB, Farsta, Sweden) over the C5-C6 zygapophyseal joint, second metacarpal and tibialis anterior muscle

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in Neck pain intensity	Change between baseline and 1o minutes immediate after the intervention	Participants will rate the intensity of their neck pain at rest on an 11-point numerical pain rate scale (NPRS, 0: no pain, 10: maximum pain)

Countries

Spain

Outcome results

None listed

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