An investigation into the effect of cervical spine HVLAT on cutaneous blood flow in the lower limb

Item

Title
An investigation into the effect of cervical spine HVLAT on cutaneous blood flow in the lower limb
Author(s)
Makinde Stephen
Abstract
Background
The use of high-velocity low-amplitude techniques is widely accepted amongst manual therapists as a highly valued treatment modality, yet little is known about the mechanism around which it works. Spinal manipulation is used not only for the correction of somatic dysfunction but also for the correction of visceral dysfunction, using the principles of the somato-visceral and viscero-somatic reflexes. Many studies have focused around the local and segmental effects of spinal manipulation. This study aimed to determine whether there are global effects of spinal manipulation, in areas of the body where there is no known neurological connection to the motion segment undergoing spinal manipulation. In this study, fourteen healthy male subjects underwent a unilateral high-velocity low-amplitude thrust to the C6/C7 motion segment, whilst the cutaneous blood flow in the dorsum of both feet was monitored.
Methods
The study was a randomised, double blind study with subjects acting as their own controls. The fourteen subjects were randomly assigned to two groups; Group A received manipulation as the first intervention and then sham and Group B received manipulation as the second intervention after the sham. Neither the subjects nor the experimenter knew which group each subject had been assigned to; the qualified Osteopath carrying out the procedures randomly assigned subjects to group A or B. Laser Doppler was used to measure cutaneous blood perfusion over the dorsalis pedis artery in both feet of each subject. Each subject was monitored for a total of fifteen minutes. After an initial period of acclimatising to the room, the subjects were monitored for a five minute period; the control. Interventions took place after five minutes and ten minutes, blood perfusion was monitored after each intervention for a period of five minutes. The data was analysed using two-tailed paired t-tests, two-tailed unpaired t-tests and an F-test.
Results
The results revealed that there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in cutaneous blood flow between the control and sham periods bilaterally. There was also no significant (p>0.05) difference between groups A and B bilaterally. However, a significant (p<0.05) difference was discovered in cutaneous blood flow between the sham and manipulation periods bilaterally.
Conclusion
The results of this study conflict with previously published hypotheses, which state that manipulation outside the region of sympathetic outflow results in increased cutaneous blood flow. The study indicates that the effects of spinal manipulation are not limited to the motion segment but are global. However, larger subject studies are required to provide more evidence for the global effect of spinal high-velocity low-amplitude technique and to understand the neuro-physiological mechanism behind this.
presented at
British College of Osteopathic Medicine
Date Accepted
0
Date Submitted
1.1.1970 00:00:00
Type
osteo_thesis
Language
English
Submitted by:
62
Pub-Identifier
13642
Inst-Identifier
1076
Recommended
0
Item sets
Thesis

Makinde Stephen, “An investigation into the effect of cervical spine HVLAT on cutaneous blood flow in the lower limb”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed April 25, 2024, https://www.osteopathic-research.com/s/orw/item/1115