What is the Preferred Angle of Traction to Decompress Cervical Nerve Roots?

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Cervical Radiculopathy
• Interventions: Other: Cervical Traction from different angles

• Registration Number: NCT03898739
• Lead Sponsor: Cairo University

Brief Summary

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of different angles of decompression on the Flexor Carpi Radialis (FCR) H-Reflex in patients with cervical radiculopathy

Detailed Description

Cervical traction has long been defined as a distracting force that separate the cervical segments and relieve nerve roots compression. Yet, there is lack of knowledge that reports the effects of different traction decompression angles and determines the proper angle of pull among different angles of decompression system

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2019-03
• Study First Submitted: 2019-03-30
• Study First Submitted QC: 2019-03-30
• Last Update Submitted: 2019-03-30
• Study Start: 2019-04-01
• Study First Posted: 2019-04-02
• Last Update Posted: 2019-04-02
• Primary Completion: 2019-08-01
• Study Completion: 2019-09-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 45

Inclusion Criteria

• Patients will be included in the study if they have C5-C6 and C6-C7 paramedian disc protrusion manifested by unilateral symptoms in C6-C7 roots dermatome and myotomes of the upper extremities, second grade of disc bulge (2-3mm) which was detected from T2 axial view of MRI, and diagnosed as cervical disc protrusion (C5- C7) for at least three months.

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients will be excluded from the study if they have upper cervical spine disc pathology, cord compression and upper motor neuron symptoms, curvature abnormalities of the neck including reversed curve (kyphotic) and deformities, cervical rib syndrome, double crush syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, text neck, short neck (churchill neck), marked facet joint, neuro-central joint arthropathic pathology, osteoporotic patients.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
traction therapy from neutral position	Cervical Traction from different angles	Patients in this group will receive traction decompression from neutral neck position with rope angle (0°)
traction therapy from lateral bending	Cervical Traction from different angles	patients will undergo traction decompression from (30°) lateral bending of the neck toward the non-affected side
traction from flexion with lateral bending and rotation	Cervical Traction from different angles	patients will be treated with traction decompression from (15°) neck flexion, (30°) lateral bending toward non- affected side and (15°) rotation to the affected side.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
The Flexor Carpi radialis H-reflex	Changes from Baseline to 6-weeks after treatment	The peak-to-peak amplitudes of four FCR-HR traces will be measured and averaged for each patient