• David Rodríguez-Sanz, César Calvo-Lobo, Francisco Unda-Solano, Irene Sanz-Corbalán, Carlos Romero-Morales, and Daniel López-López.
• Faculty of Health, Exercise and Sport, Department of Physical Therapy and Podiatry, Physical Therapy & Health Sciences Research group, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain.
• Pain Med. 2017 Dec 1; 18 (12): 2492-2503.

BackgroundCervicobrachial pain (CP) is a high-incidence and prevalent condition. Cervical lateral glide (CLG) is a firstline treatment of CP. There is a current lack of enough high-quality randomized controlled double-blind clinical trials that measure the effectiveness of neural tissue mobilization techniques such as the CLG and its specific effect over CP.ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to assess the effect of CLG neural mobilization in treating subjects who suffer from CP, compared with the complete absence of treatment.Study DesignThis investigation was a single-center, blinded, parallel randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT).SettingOne hundred forty-seven individuals were screened in a medical center from July to November 2015. Fifty-eight participants were diagnosed with CP.MethodsParticipants were recruited and randomly assigned into two groups of 29 subjects. The intervention group received CLG treatment, and the control group (CG) was assigned to a six-week waiting list to receive treatment. Randomization was carried out by concealed computer software randomized printed cards. The primary outcome was pain intensity, reported through the Numeric Rating Scale for Pain (NRSP). Secondary outcomes were physical function involving the affected upper limb using the Quick DASH scale and ipsilateral cervical rotation (ICR) using a CROM device. Assessments were made at baseline and one hour after treatment.ResultsThe CLG group NRSP mean value was significantly (P < 0.0001) superior to those obtained by the CG. Subjects treated with CLG reported an average NRSP decrease of 2.16 points (35%). CROM device and Quick DASH outcome values also reported significant (P < 0.0001) improvements only in the CLG group. Cohen's d showed a very large effect of the CLG intervention at subject discharge.LimitationsDue to the lack of dipper subgroup analysis and additional reproductions of the applied protocol, the authors considered the generalization of the study results to be impossible.ConclusionsCLG is superior to the absence of treatment in reducing pain and increasing the affected upper limb function of subjects who suffer from CP. CLG may be considered an effective treatment in specific cases of CP.© 2017 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

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