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Efficacy of Neck Stretching Exercises in Mitigating Neck Pain and Self-Reported Disability Post-Thyroidectomy: A
Rong Li1, Shuiying Chen1, Xuejing Yue1
1Nursing Department, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, Haizhu District, 510275, China.
Background:
We aimed to forecast the efficacy of neck stretching exercises in mitigating self-reported disability post-thyroidectomy and neck pain.
Methods:
Until Feb 2025, an inclusive literature study was accomplished, and 654 related studies were reviewed. The 5 nominated studies encompassed 654 patients with thyroidectomy at the beginning of the study and were selected for the meta-analysis. The mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to examine the outcome of the neck stretching exercises compared to control on thyroidectomy using continuous methods with either a fixed or random model.
Results:
In cases with thyroidectomy, neck stretching exercises had significantly lower mean neck pain score after 1 week (P=0.001), mean neck pain score after 1 month (P=0.01), mean self-reported neck disability score after 1 month (P<0. 001) compared to control treatment. Nonetheless, no significant difference was detected between neck stretching exercises and control treatment in mean self-reported neck disability score after 1 week (P=0.06) in patients with thyroidectomy. In patients with thyroidectomy, neck stretching exercises had significantly lower mean neck pain score after 1 week, and after 1 month, and mean self-reported neck disability score after 1 month, however, no significant difference was found in mean self-reported neck disability score after 1 week compared to control treatment.
Conclusion:
More research is necessary to confirm this discovery, and care must be used while interacting with its values since many comparisons had a low number of included articles and a small sample size of most of the selected studies.
Insights
Neck stretching exercises significantly reduce neck pain and disability after thyroidectomy. While effective for pain and disability at one month, benefits for disability at one week require further investigation.
Area of Science:
- Physical Therapy
- Surgical Recovery
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Thyroidectomy can lead to post-operative neck pain and disability.
- Neck stretching exercises are a potential non-invasive intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of neck stretching exercises in mitigating self-reported disability and neck pain post-thyroidectomy.
Main Methods:
- A meta-analysis of 5 studies involving 654 patients undergoing thyroidectomy.
- Compared neck stretching exercises to control treatments using mean differences and 95% confidence intervals.
Main Results:
- Neck stretching exercises significantly reduced neck pain scores at 1 week and 1 month post-thyroidectomy.
- Significant reduction in self-reported neck disability was observed at 1 month.
- No significant difference in neck disability was found at 1 week.
Conclusions:
- Neck stretching exercises show promise in improving outcomes after thyroidectomy.
- Further research with larger sample sizes is needed to confirm findings and explore nuances in disability reduction timelines.