Abstract
Back ground: Cervical spondylosis is the most common degenerative condition of the cervical spine affecting the intervertebral joints and diss. Mechanical stresses increase load which leads to formation of osteophytes as a result of the vertebral body's attempt to grow more bone for strengthening. Changes in
intervertebral disks can cause spinal cord compression in advanced cases. There are many evidences found in the literature about non-invasive treatment for cervical spondylosis with the exception of manual therapy.
Methodology: Single blinded, randomized clinical trial was conducted at National Hospital & Medical Center DHA Lahore with a sample of 80 patients. After randomization, the subjects were distributed into two equalgroups of 40 subjects. Group A was treated by applying kaltenborn segmental traction (KST), core stability exercises (CSE) and short wave diathermy (SWD), while Group B was treated with Mechanical cervical traction (MCT), core stability exercises (CSE) and short wave diathermy (SWD). The duration of treatment was 4 weeks with 3 sessions per week. All patients were assessed at the start of treatment and then by second and fourth week by using the neck disability index (NDI). Independent t test was used to see the comparative effect of KST and MCT in terms of functional ability with p ≤0.05 % (level of significance).
Results: The results illustrate that the measured mean score of NDI before treatment for KST group was 3.97 and for MCT group was 3.92. While mean score of NDI after treatment for KST group was 1.50 and for MCT group was 2.30. It was noted that there was a difference between mean scores for KST and MCT
groups after treatment with better improvement in KST group (the lower the mean value was an indication of good functional ability on NDI scale).The measured “p” value of NDI was 0.000, which was an indication of significant changes proved as in mean scores.
Conclusion: This study concluded that kalten born segmental traction(KST) shows more satisfactory results than mechanical cervical traction (MCT) in subjects of cervical spondylosis for resuming their functional status in terms of NDI.
