TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of zygapophyseal joint cracking during chiropractic manipulation
AU - Reggars, J. W.
AU - Pollard, H. P.
PY - 1995
Y1 - 1995
N2 - Objectives: To determine if there is a relationship between the side of head rotation and the side of joint crack during 'diversified' rotatory manipulation of the cervical spine. Design: Randomized experimental study. Setting: Macquarie University, Centre for Chiropractic, Summer Hill, New South Wales. Subjects: Fifty asymptomatic subjects were recruited from the students and staff of the above college. Intervention: Single, unilateral 'diversified,' high velocity, low amplitude, rotatory thrust technique. Main Outcome Measures: Joint crack sound wave analysis of digital audio tape (DAT) recordings, taken from two skin mounted microphones positioned on either side of the cervical spine. Results: All 50 subjects exhibited at least one audible joint crack sound during manipulation. Forty-seven subjects (94%) exhibited cracking on the ipsilateral side to head rotation (95% confidence interval, 83.5% to 98.7%). One subject exhibited joint cracking on the contralateral side only, while two subjects exhibited bilateral joint crack sounds. There was a statistically significant lower rate of exclusively ipsilateral joint cracking in subjects with a history of neck trauma (80% vs. 100%, p = .023). Conclusions: This research suggests that during the 'diversified' rotatory manipulation of the cervical spine utilized in this study, there is a higher occurrence of the joint crack on the ipsilateral side to head rotation.
AB - Objectives: To determine if there is a relationship between the side of head rotation and the side of joint crack during 'diversified' rotatory manipulation of the cervical spine. Design: Randomized experimental study. Setting: Macquarie University, Centre for Chiropractic, Summer Hill, New South Wales. Subjects: Fifty asymptomatic subjects were recruited from the students and staff of the above college. Intervention: Single, unilateral 'diversified,' high velocity, low amplitude, rotatory thrust technique. Main Outcome Measures: Joint crack sound wave analysis of digital audio tape (DAT) recordings, taken from two skin mounted microphones positioned on either side of the cervical spine. Results: All 50 subjects exhibited at least one audible joint crack sound during manipulation. Forty-seven subjects (94%) exhibited cracking on the ipsilateral side to head rotation (95% confidence interval, 83.5% to 98.7%). One subject exhibited joint cracking on the contralateral side only, while two subjects exhibited bilateral joint crack sounds. There was a statistically significant lower rate of exclusively ipsilateral joint cracking in subjects with a history of neck trauma (80% vs. 100%, p = .023). Conclusions: This research suggests that during the 'diversified' rotatory manipulation of the cervical spine utilized in this study, there is a higher occurrence of the joint crack on the ipsilateral side to head rotation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028944182&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 7790785
AN - SCOPUS:0028944182
SN - 0161-4754
VL - 18
SP - 65
EP - 71
JO - Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
JF - Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
IS - 2
ER -