A randomized clinical trial of manual therapy for cervico-brachial pain syndrome -- a pilot study

Cervico-brachial pain syndrome is an upper quarter pain condition in which mechanosensitive neural tissue is considered a primary feature. A single-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted to determine the clinical effect of two manual therapy interventions. Thirty subjects (20 females and 10 males) were randomly allocated to one of three groups - one of two manual therapy intervention groups or a control group. One manual therapy intervention group consisted of passive techniques aimed at mobilizing neural tissue structures and the cervical spine. The other involved indirect manual therapy techniques with a focus on articular components of the gleno-humeral joint and thoracic spine. The treatment period lasted 8 weeks in total and was combined with a home exercise programme. Following the 8-week baseline period the control group were crossed over into the specific neural tissue manual therapy group. Pain visual analogue scale (VAS), the short-form McGill pain and Northwick Park neck pain questionnaires were completed before, midway and after the treatment period. The findings suggest that both manual physiotherapy interventions combined with home exercises are effective in improving pain intensity, pain quality scores and functional disability levels. A group difference was observed for the VAS scores at 8 weeks with the neural manual therapy technique having a significantly lower score.