title: Immediate effects of a high-velocity spine manipulation in paraspinal muscles activity of nonspecific chronic low-back pain subjects.
abstract: High-velocity spinal manipulation is commonly adopted for treating chronic low-back pain (CLBP) and has been associated with changes in muscle activity, but the evidence is controversial. The aim of this study was to analyse the immediate effects of high-velocity spine manipulation on paraspinal activity during flexion-extension trunk movements. Forty nonspecific CLBP patients were randomised into two groups, manipulation (n = 20) and control (n = 20). While the manipulation group received high-velocity spine manipulation at the L4-L5 level, the control group remained lying in the same position. EMG-related variables, perceived pain intensity (100 mm VAS) and finger-floor distance were collected before and after spinal manipulation at the L4-L5 level. EMG surface signals from the right and left paraspinal muscles (L5-S1 level) were acquired during trunk flexion-extension cycles. EMG activity during the static relaxation phase was significantly reduced following intervention for the manipulation group but not for the control group. The extension-phase EMG activity was also reduced after manipulation, but the flexion-phase EMG levels remained unchanged. Accordingly, the percent changes in FRR and ERR were significantly larger for the manipulation group compared to the control. The results suggest that a high-velocity spinal manipulation is able to acutely reduce abnormal EMG activity during the full-flexion static phase and activation during the extension phase.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Programme in Technology in Healthcare, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Rua Imaculada Conceição, Curso de Engenharia Eletrica-Telecomunicacoes, 1155, 80215-901 Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bicalho
authors.forename: João Antônio Palma
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Setti
authors.forename: Jones
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Macagnan
authors.forename: José Luis Rivas
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Cano
authors.forename: Elisangela Ferretti
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Manffra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D020393:Manipulation, Spinal / Q000379:methods*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome