Posts by: Patrick van Dun

There appears to be very little in the research literature on the safety of thrust joint manipulation (TJM) when applied to the thoracic spine. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively analyze all available documented case reports in the literature describing patients who had experienced severe adverse events after receiving TJM to their thoracic spine … ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to determine whether patients with low back pain (LBP) who respond to spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) differ biomechanically from nonresponders, untreated controls or asymptomatic controls … MORE

This study is the first to describe bilateral peripheral skin blood flow changes occurring during and 5 min after application of standardized spinal mobilizations. The main findings were (1) an equal and significant bilateral vasodilation occurring during unilateral application of sham, low-pressure, and high-pressure spinal mobilizations and (2) the bilateral post-mobilization significant vasodilation persisted only after high-pressure spinal mobilizations … ABSTRACT

High velocity thrust (HVT) cervical techniques have been associated with serious vertebral artery (VA) trauma. Despite numerous studies, the nature of this association is uncertain. Previous studies have failed to demonstrate haemodynamic effects on the VA in simulated pre-thrust positions. No study has investigated haemodynamic affects during or immediately following HVT, nor sufficiently controlled for the influence of the thrust. The objectives of this study were to investigate the immediate effects of HVT of the atlanto-axial joint upon haemodynamics in the sub-occipital portion of the vertebral artery (VA3) … ABSTRACT

This study aimed to analyze the in vivo 3-dimensional kinematics of the head during cervical manipulation including helical axis (HA) computation and anatomic motion representation … ABSTRACT

Trivial pain or minor soreness commonly follows neck manipulation and has been estimated at one in three treatments. In addition, rare catastrophic events can occur. Some of these incidents have been ascribed to poor technique where the neck is rotated too far. The aims of this study were to design an instrument to measure competency of neck manipulation in beginning students when using a simulation mannequin, and then examine the suitability of using a simulation mannequin to teach the early psychomotor skills for neck chiropractic manipulative therapy … MORE

This article demonstrates a form of placebo analgesia that relies on prior conditioning rather than current expected pain relief. This highlights the importance of prior experience on pain relief and offers insight into the variability of placebo effects across individuals … MORE

A key osteopathic tenet involves the body’s ability to self-heal. Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) has been evolved to improve this healing capacity. The authors’ in vitro work has focused on modeling 2 common OMT modalities: myofascial release (MFR) and counterstrain. Their studies have evaluated the effects of these modalities on wound healing, cytokine secretion, and muscle repair. The key components of the host response to mechanical forces are fibroblasts, which are the main fascial cells that respond to different types of strain by secreting anti-inflammatory chemicals and growth factors, thus improving wound healing and muscle repair processes. The purpose of this review is to discuss the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which MFR and other OMT modalities work, in particular, the role of strained fibroblasts in inflammation, wound healing, and muscle repair and regeneration … MORE

Assessment of the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) is a key component in generating the pelvic diagnosis of somatic dysfunction, but studies have shown poor reliability between examiners. The objective of this study was to assess the influence of homogeneous training, years of experience, and eye dominance on the percentage of correctness, sensitivity, and specificity of ASIS evaluation … ABSTRACT