The relative effect of upper cervical spine manipulation, placebo and a control, on neck muscle activity, pain and disability in participants with cervicogenic headache. - Trial PACTR201906717506525

Timeline & Enrollment

Summary

Cervicogenic headache (CGH) arises from dysfunction of the cervical spine and (any structure innervated by the first three cervical nerves such as the cervical facet joints and muscles of the cervical spine) has the potential to produce a CGH (Alix and Bates 1999). Several studies have found that cervical spine manipulation (CSM) is a valid treatment method for CGH (Haldeman and Dagenais 2001; Biondi 2005; Becker 2010; Chaibi and Russell 2012). It is postulated that manipulation results in inhibition of descending pain pathways to bring about its changes in pain and disability (Chaibi et al. 2015). This mechanism is only theoretical at present as the neurophysiological effect of spinal manipulation and aetiology of CGH is not fully understood and requires further investigation (Alix and Bates 1999; Haldeman and Dagenais 2001; Pickar 2002). The aim of this study is to determine the effect of upper cervical spine manipulation compared to a placebo and a control intervention on neck muscle activity, pain and disability in participants with CGH in order to further understand how manipulation brings about its therapeutic effect in this condition.This study uses a quantitative approach and a randomized, controlled, repeated, pre-test, post-test, experimental design. Participants with CGH will be recruited (N=45) and will be randomly allocated to one of three groups, each group will receive either upper CSM, placebo or a control. Muscle activity and maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) of selected cervical spinal muscles will be taken before an intervention is applied and after an intervention is applied. Pain and disability will be measured during the initial consultation and telephonically 48 hours later. In addition a headache diary will be used by the participants to record the frequency, intensity and duration of their CGH prior to initial consultation.

ICD-10 Classifications