TY - JOUR
T1 - Outcomes of active cervical therapeutic exercise on dynamic intervertebral foramen changes in neck pain patients with disc herniation
AU - Wu, Shyi Kuen
AU - Chen, Han Yu
AU - You, Jia Yuan
AU - Bau, Jian Guo
AU - Lin, Yu Chen
AU - Kuo, Li Chieh
N1 - Funding Information:
Special thanks to Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, Ministry of Education of Taiwan, and Medical Device Innovation Center of National Cheng Kung University for the financial and technical supports for this research work.
Funding Information:
This research work was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under grant no.: MOST105–2314-B-241 -002 – and MOST 109–2314-B-006 -030 -MY3. This work was also partially supported by the Medical Device Innovation Center, National Cheng Kung University from the Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Background: To better understand biomechanical factors that affect intervertebral alignment throughout active therapeutic exercise, it is necessary to determine spinal kinematics when subjects perform spinal exercises. This study aims to investigate the outcomes of active cervical therapeutic exercise on intervertebral foramen changes in neck pain patients with disc herniation. Methods: Thirty diagnosed C4/5 and/or C5/6 disc-herniated patients receiving an 8-week cervical therapeutic exercise program were followed up with videofluoroscopic images. The dynamic changes in the foramen were computed at different timepoints, including the neutral position, end-range positions in cervical flexion-extension, protrusion-retraction, and lateral flexion movements. Results: The results showed that the active cervical flexion, retraction, and lateral flexion away from the affected side movements increased the area of the patients’ intervertebral foramen; while the active extension, protrusion, and lateral flexion toward the affected side reduced the areas of intervertebral foramen before treatment. After the treatment, the active cervical flexion significantly increased the C2/3, C3/4, and C6/7 foramen area by 5.02–8.67% (p = 0.001 ~ 0.029), and the extension exercise significantly reduced the C2/3 and C4/5 area by 5.12–9.18% (p = 0.001 ~ 0.006) compared to the baseline. Active retraction movement significantly increased the foramen area from C2/3 to C6/7 by 3.82–8.66% (p = 0.002 ~ 0.036 with exception of C5/6). Active lateral flexion away from the affected side significantly increased the foramen by 3.71–6.78% (p = 0.007 ~ 0.046 with exception of C6/7). Conclusions: The 8-week therapeutic exercises including repeated cervical retraction, extension, and lateral flexion movements to the lesion led to significant changes and improvements in intervertebral foramen areas of the patients with disc herniation.
AB - Background: To better understand biomechanical factors that affect intervertebral alignment throughout active therapeutic exercise, it is necessary to determine spinal kinematics when subjects perform spinal exercises. This study aims to investigate the outcomes of active cervical therapeutic exercise on intervertebral foramen changes in neck pain patients with disc herniation. Methods: Thirty diagnosed C4/5 and/or C5/6 disc-herniated patients receiving an 8-week cervical therapeutic exercise program were followed up with videofluoroscopic images. The dynamic changes in the foramen were computed at different timepoints, including the neutral position, end-range positions in cervical flexion-extension, protrusion-retraction, and lateral flexion movements. Results: The results showed that the active cervical flexion, retraction, and lateral flexion away from the affected side movements increased the area of the patients’ intervertebral foramen; while the active extension, protrusion, and lateral flexion toward the affected side reduced the areas of intervertebral foramen before treatment. After the treatment, the active cervical flexion significantly increased the C2/3, C3/4, and C6/7 foramen area by 5.02–8.67% (p = 0.001 ~ 0.029), and the extension exercise significantly reduced the C2/3 and C4/5 area by 5.12–9.18% (p = 0.001 ~ 0.006) compared to the baseline. Active retraction movement significantly increased the foramen area from C2/3 to C6/7 by 3.82–8.66% (p = 0.002 ~ 0.036 with exception of C5/6). Active lateral flexion away from the affected side significantly increased the foramen by 3.71–6.78% (p = 0.007 ~ 0.046 with exception of C6/7). Conclusions: The 8-week therapeutic exercises including repeated cervical retraction, extension, and lateral flexion movements to the lesion led to significant changes and improvements in intervertebral foramen areas of the patients with disc herniation.
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U2 - 10.1186/s12891-022-05670-6
DO - 10.1186/s12891-022-05670-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 35906546
AN - SCOPUS:85135138749
SN - 1471-2474
VL - 23
JO - BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
JF - BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
IS - 1
M1 - 728
ER -