Coupling behavior of the cervical spine: a systematic review of the literature.
Journal Article (Journal Article;Review;Systematic Review)
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate evidence of consistency of reported directional coupling patterns among selected studies and to determine its use in manual medical treatment. METHODS: The study was a systematic literature review of English-only journals using PubMed and CINAHL. The keywords included "cervical vertebrae," "biomechanics," "coupling," and "three-dimensional movement" and required coupling directional assessment of individual spine segments. RESULTS: Four 2-dimensional and 8 3-dimensional studies met inclusion criteria. This study found 100% agreement in coupling direction (side flexion and rotation to the same side) in lower cervical vertebral segments (C2-3 and lower) and variation in coupling patterns in the upper cervical segments of occiput-C1 (during side flexion initiation) and C1-2. Dissimilarities may be explained by differences in measurement devices, movement initiation, in vivo vs in vitro specimens, and anatomical variations. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that use of 3-dimensional analyzed cervical coupling patterns for the lower cervical vertebral during apposition and treatment application may show clinical use for manual clinicians. The use of directional coupling based on 2-dimensional cervical coupling patterns or upper cervical spine coupling that addresses C1-2 should be questioned.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Cook, C; Hegedus, E; Showalter, C; Sizer, PS
Published Date
- September 2006
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 29 / 7
Start / End Page
- 570 - 575
PubMed ID
- 16949947
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1532-6586
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/j.jmpt.2006.06.020
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States