COMPARISON OF EFFICACY OF MECHANICAL INTERMITTENT AND KALTENBORN CERVICAL TRACTION MOBILIZATION WITH BELT IN RADIATING NECK PAIN: A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to see the effectiveness of cervical traction manual or mechanical as an adjunct to physical therapy in the treatment of radiating neck pain. Method: 50 subjects with radiating neck pain, 25 in each group were taken. Both groups received moist heat and cervical retraction exercises for five sessions. The KTr group received Kaltenborn manual traction and the Tr group received mechanical cervical traction. Outcome measures: Numeric Pain Rating Scale and cervical ROM were taken at baseline, after first treatment and at the end of 5th day. Neck disability index and Patient-Specific Functional Scale were taken at baseline and at the end of fifth session. Results: After 5 days of treatment, statistical improvements ((Formula presented.).05) were observed in all outcome measures in both groups. The immediate reduction in pain intensity and increased range of motion was observed in the KTr group. Conclusion: The study showed that both traction methods are equally effective when used as adjunct to physical therapy in radiating neck pain treatment. Immediate effects in reduction of pain and increase in the ROM are more in the manual traction group. Hence, manual cervical traction along with physical therapy can be considered as choice of treatment for immediate improvements in pain and ROM of the cervical spine.