Clinical trial NCT03898739: What is the Preferred Angle of Traction to Decompress Cervical Nerve Roots?
Official title: What is the Preferred Angle of Traction to Decompress Cervical Nerve Roots?
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Cervical Radiculopathy
Keywords: Traction
Decompression angles
Lead sponsor: Cairo University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2019-04-02
Enrollment: 45
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 20
Maximum age (years): 50
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: One independent variable with many levels.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

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

Eligibility criteria: 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.

Primary outcomes:
measure: The Flexor Carpi radialis H-reflex
timeFrame: Changes from Baseline to 6-weeks after treatment
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: Professor of Physical Therapy for Neurology, Department of Physical Therapy for Neuromuscular Disorder and its Surgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University.
name: Samiha H Hassan, Prof.
role: STUDY_CHAIR
affiliation: Lecturer at Department of Physical Therapy for Neuromuscular Disorder and its Surgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University.
name: Shaymaa M Abdelmeged, PhD
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: Professor and Head of Department of Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Egypt
name: Salam M Elhafez, Prof.
role: STUDY_CHAIR
References:
citation: Khan RR, Awan WA, Rashid S, Masood T. A randomized controlled trial of intermittent Cervical Traction in sitting Vs. Supine position for the management of Cervical Radiculopathy. Pak J Med Sci. 2017 Nov-Dec;33(6):1333-1338. doi: 10.12669/pjms.336.13851.
citation: Liu J, Ebraheim NA, Sanford CG Jr, Patil V, Elsamaloty H, Treuhaft K, Farrell S. Quantitative changes in the cervical neural foramen resulting from axial traction: in vivo imaging study. Spine J. 2008 Jul-Aug;8(4):619-23. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2007.04.016. Epub 2007 Jun 21.