Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy

BACKGROUND: Neck pain is a common manifestation of musculoskeletal disorders of the cervical and thoracic spine. Manual therapy interventions to the thoracic spine are recommended for treating patients with several types of neck pain. However, only a few studies have investigated the thoracic spine mobility associated with neck movement. OBJECTIVES: Compare cervical and upper thoracic rotation angles in subjects with and without neck pain. METHODS: The subjects included nine individuals who experienced neck pain (pain, Group P) and 11 who did not (non-pain, Group N)...

BACKGROUND: The vertebral artery (VA) may be stretched and subsequently damaged during manual cervical spine manipulation. The objective of this study was to measure VA length changes that occur during cervical spine manipulation and to compare these to the VA failure length. METHODS: Piezoelectric ultrasound crystals were implanted along the length of the VA (C1 to C7) and were used to measure length changes during cervical spine manipulation of seven un-embalmed, post-rigor human cadavers...

Teaching hypothetico-deductive clinical reasoning (CR) should be an essential part of the physiotherapy education system, but currently there are very few learning tools for teachers in the musculoskeletal discipline. The aim of this article was to describe and present the rules of a new game-based and structured didactic tool that can be used by teachers for 'players' (students and licensed clinicians) to learn systematic CR in musculoskeletal physiotherapy.Our tool is based on the 'Happy Families' card game, and we propose to use it as part of a classic musculoskeletal subjective examination-based hypothesis category framework and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health model...

INTRODUCTION: The subacromial/subdeltoid bursa can develop inflammation and effusion related to autoimmune, infectious, and musculoskeletal disorders. Rice bodies, or loose bodies within bursa, have been described as an uncommon complication of bursitis and have been the subject of case studies over a number of years. However, they have not been described in anatomical or physical therapy-related literature. METHODS: A donor body dissected for a physical therapy anatomy course was found to have an enlarged subacromial/subdeltoid bursa...

OBJECTIVE: Characterize trajectory and predictors of patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) defined recovery at 6 months. METHODS: Individuals with musculoskeletal shoulder pain (n = 140) completed patient-reported disability and PASS at baseline, 1 and 6 months. The PASS was categorized into 3 trajectory groups; 1.) Early Recovery (answered yes to PASS at 1 and 6-months), 2.) Delayed Recovery (PASS-yes only at 6-months), and 3.) Unrecovered. Mixed models characterized the trajectory between PASS-groups using SPADI and QDASH disability change scores...

Temporomandibular (TM) disorders afflict many people globally and, despite the presence of existing peer-reviewed material that assists conservative orthopedic providers, recent advances in knowledge indicate that updated resources are required for students, clinicians, and educators. This two-part series builds off previously published material to present newer supplementary information that can be useful during the evaluation and management processes. Content in Part 1 of this series includes a discussion about the factors that have been shown to contribute to TM disorders, an updated perspective of relevant pain science, a discussion of self-report outcome measures, and various different topics related to the examination of patients with TM disorders...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: To explore if physical therapists are practicing skills necessary to refer patients for musculoskeletal imaging. METHODS: An expert panel established a list of nine requisite skills to refer for musculoskeletal imaging. A blinded expert panel validated the list using a 5-point Likert scale. The skills list was examined via an electronic survey distributed to United States physical therapists. RESULTS: 4,796 respondents were included...

BACKGROUND: Patients with cervicogenic dizziness (CGD) present with dizziness, cervical spine dysfunctions, and postural imbalance, symptoms that can significantly impact their daily functioning. OBJECTIVES: To provide evidence-based recommendations for the management of patients with CGD. METHODS: Three databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (last search 15 May 2021). Outcome measures included dizziness, cervical spine, and balance parameters...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Temporomandibular (TM) disorders afflict many people globally and, despite the presence of existing peer-reviewed material that assists conservative orthopedic providers, recent advances in knowledge indicate that updated resources are required for students, clinicians, and educators. This two-part series builds off previously published material to present newer supplementary information that can be useful during the evaluation and management processes. Content in Part 1 of this series includes a discussion about the factors that have been shown to contribute to TM disorders, an updated perspective of relevant pain science, a discussion of self-report outcome measures, and various different topics related to the examination of patients with TM disorders...

BACKGROUND: Stiffness is a common complication following trauma and surgeries around the elbow, which can result in upper limb functional disabilities. Soft tissue mobilization techniques such as Instrument-assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) and Muscle Energy Technique (MET) have limited evidence in elbow rehabilitation. This study aimed to compare their effects on postoperative elbow stiffness. METHODOLOGY: 26 subjects were recruited (13 each group) with postoperative elbow stiffness (minimum 6 weeks post surgery) and randomly allocated in two groups: IASTM and MET...

OBJECTIVES: To compare sub-occipital muscle pressure sub pain thresholds (PPTs) in individuals with persistent-post-traumatic-headache (PPTH) in relation to the presence or not of cranial nerve and/or autonomic symptoms reported during sustained neck rotation (SNR). BACKGROUND: Previously 81% of military service members with PPTH demonstrated symptoms with SNR up to 60 seconds. Of these, 54% reported symptoms in one (Uni-Symp) and 46% in both directions of rotation (Bi-Symp)...

BACKGROUND: Preprocessed research resources are believed to be highly 'trustworthy' when translating research to clinical practice. However, the overall 'trustworthiness' is unknown if this evidence contains randomized clinical trials (RCTs) where prospective has not been/cannot be verified, has low confidence in estimated effects, and if they are not up to date. OBJECTIVES: This protocol will be used to create a baseline benchmark for a series of trustworthy living systematic reviews (SRs) regarding manual therapy interventions...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Pain-inducing massage produces comparable changes in pain sensitivity as a cold pressor task, suggesting shared neurophysiological mechanisms of conditioned pain modulation. Manual therapy and conditioned pain modulation are influenced by positive and negative expectations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of positive and negative expectations on pain-free and pain-inducing massage. METHODS: 56 healthy participants were randomly assigned to receive a positive or negative expectation instructional set followed by a pain-inducing or a pain-free massage...

BACKGROUNDS: Tension-Type Headache (TTH) is one of the most common types of headache. In patients with TTH, manual therapy can be used to treat myofascial pain. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of manual therapy on TTH in patients who did not respond to drug therapy. METHODS: A total of 24 patients with TTH were randomly enrolled into this prospective trial. The participants were divided into an intervention and a control group...

INTRODUCTION: Neck pain is a leading cause of disability, and manual therapy (MT) is a common intervention used across disciplines and settings to treat it. While there is consistent support for MT in managing neck pain, questions remain about the feasibility of incorporating MT from research into clinical practice. The purpose of this scoping review was to assess how adequately the descriptions of MT interventions are reported and identify the clinicians and settings in MT trials for neck pain...

OBJECTIVE: To describe variability in spinal manipulation technique details and adverse event (AE) documentation of spinal manipulation during pregnancy. METHODS: Five databases were searched for peer-reviewed investigations of spinal manipulation during pregnancy. Criteria for inclusion was as follows: high velocity, low amplitude thrust manipulation performed, subjects pregnant during manipulation, and English language. Studies were excluded when participants were not currently pregnant, and when the manipulation performed was not high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust...

INTRODUCTION: It is unknown if verified prospective registration of systematic reviews (SRs) and the randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that they use affect an SR's methodological quality on A MeaSurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2). METHODS: Data originated from interventional SRs published in International Society of Physiotherapy Journals Editors (ISPJE) member journals, indexed in MEDLINE, between 1 January 2018 and 18 August 2021. Blinded reviewers identified the SRs and extracted the data for the variables of interest for the SRs and the RCTs...