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Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Response to Unilateral Posterior Glide of the Cervical Spine in Normal Volunteers: Pilot Case Series (Abstracts)
(2012)
Abstract
PURPOSE: To present the blood pressure and heart rate response of healthy volunteers to unilateral posterior glide of the cervical spine. RELEVANCE: Manual therapists employ unilateral posterior glides of the cervical spine for various cervical-shoulder painful conditions. However, there is a paucity of literature describing the procedure and its safety profile, in particular, how it should be performed to avoid doing a carotid sinus massage causing vasodepression. METHODS: Two men and 2 women (all coauthors; 24-36 years old) with no history of cervical-shoulder pain and cardiovascular disease volunteered for this pilot case series. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured in the following order: (1) 2 minutes before the placebo, (2) during the placebo (when light touch is applied at the right C6), (3) during the first set of posterior glide, (4) during the fifth set of posterior glide, and (5) 2 minutes after the final posterior glides. Blinded to the measurements collected, the primary author performed the same procedures on all supinelying volunteers. Testing would immediately stop if the systolic BP dropped 50 mmHg or more below the baseline. Finally, a follow-up was done to determine if the participants had any adverse reactions from testing. RESULTS: When compared to baseline measurements, all subjects demonstrated no change greater than: 10 mmHg for systolic BP, 15 mmHg for diastolic BP, and 7 beats for HR. Furthermore, none of the volunteers reported any adverse effects within 2 weeks of the testing date. CONCLUSION: Performing posterior glides (as described in this pilot) did not cause vasodepression (systolic BP drop of 50 mmHg), thereby indicating its potential broad safety profile. IMPLICATION: The results from this pilot would justify further study in more participants. Nevertheless, the findings, though promising, are preliminary and should be interpreted with caution.
Disciplines
Publication Date
October, 2012
Citation Information
Emmanuel Yung, Kyle Mache, Michael Wong, Haddie Williams, et al.. "Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Response to Unilateral Posterior Glide of the Cervical Spine in Normal Volunteers: Pilot Case Series (Abstracts)" (2012) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/emmanuel_yung/13/