Concurrent Treatment for Patients With Cervical Radiculopathy

The Concurrent Use of Intermittent Cervical Traction and Neuromobilization Techniques in Patients With Cervical Radiculopathy

Status

UNKNOWN

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT03636009

Enrollment

Registered

2018-08-17

Start date

2018-10-01

Completion date

2019-09-30

Last updated

2018-10-19

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

Conditions

Spinal Nerve Root Disorder Nos

Keywords

cervical radiculopathy, neck pain, neuromobilizations

Brief summary

This study evaluates the effectiveness of two treatment interventions in patients with cervical radiculopathy. One group will receive a concurrent approach using traction and neuromobilizations. The other group will receive the sequential approach of traction and neuromobilizations

Detailed description

Physical therapists routinely use cervical traction and manual therapy in patients with cervical radiculopathy. The standard of care is a sequential approach in which the patients receive interventions successively. This study will provide the standard of care approach for one group while the other group receives the concurrent approach in which the patient will have neuromobilizations while they are receiving mechanical traction. Both groups will also receive exercise and manual therapy to the cervical and thoracic spine.

Interventions

OTHERconcurrent traction and neuromobilization technique

participant will be on a mechanical traction machine with an on:off cycle. During the on cycle, the primary researcher will be performing a neuromobilization technique on the symptomatic arm. Patients will also receive exercise and manual therapy

OTHERsequential traction and neuromobilization technique

Participants will receive neuromobilzation techniques followed by supine cervical traction

OTHERactive exercise program

Participants will have 4-5 exercises to perform at each session

OTHERmanual therapy to cervical and thoracic spine

Lateral glides to cervical spine and thoracic manipulations

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Intervention model description

Two groups receiving interventions

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Participants that test positive on at least 3 out of 4 special tests. * Participants will score at least 10 on the Neck Disability Index * Participants will score at least 2 on the numeric pain rating scale

Exclusion criteria

* Do not test positive on at least 3 of 4 special tests. * Signs of cervical trauma * Cervical myelopathy * Active pregnancy * Medical red flags (fracture, tumor, long term steroid use, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoporosis) * Evidence of vascular compromise * Cervical spine surgery * Recent injections in the past six weeks

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
changes in pain	after 4 weeks of intervention	Measured using the Numeric pain rating scale. Minimum score is 0 and maximum score is 10. 0 describes no pain and 10 describes worst pain imaginable.
changes in function	After 4 weeks of intervention	Measured using the Neck Disability Index. The Neck Disability Index has a minimum score of 0 and maximum score of 50. It is typically expressed as a percentage by multiplying the score by 2. Higher scores represent greater disability.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Difference in treatment time between the groups	4 weeks of intervention	average minutes in treatment in each group

Countries

United States

Contacts

Primary ContactPatrick Christianson

christiansonpj@uindy.edu574-485-6082

Backup ContactJames Bellew, EdD

bellew@uindy.edu317-788-3522

Outcome results

None listed

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