title: [Manual therapy for neck pain: increasing evidence for effectiveness].
abstract: Most patients with acute neck pain (< 2 weeks) recover quickly and respond well to a wait-and-see approach. If the neck pain persists for more than 2 weeks there are various treatment options available. A new RCT from the USA has shown that spinal manipulation, or even a programme of home exercise, was more effective than medication (including analgesia) for patients with neck pain with a duration of 2-12 weeks. The magnitude of the difference in effectiveness of treatment was quite low. However, since the results are largely in line with a previous RCT from the Netherlands in which manual therapy showed the best clinical and cost-effective results compared to physiotherapy and usual care by the general practitioner, the evidence in favour of manual therapy is now accumulating. Manual therapy is a rational treatment option for patients with neck pain persisting longer than 2 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Erasmus MC, afd. Huisartsgeneeskunde, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. b.koes@erasmusmc.nl
authors.forename: Bart W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Koes
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D020393:Manipulation, Spinal; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D057832:Watchful Waiting