The effectiveness of soft and semi-rigid cervical collars on acute cervical radiculopathy
Journal Title: The European Research Journal - Year 2018, Vol 4, Issue 1
Abstract
Objectives. Cervical radiculopathy is one of the common causes of the neck pain. Medical devices in the form of cervical collars are frequently recommended in acute cervical radiculopathy. We aim to investigate and compare the effect of soft and semi-rigid cervical collars on neck pain, disability and daily life activities in the patients with acute cervical radiculopathy. Methods. We designed a prospective, single-blind, randomized controlled study. This study was conducted on 101 patients who were diagnosed with clinical features of radiculopathy and imaging showing cervical disc herniation. Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Neck Disability Index (NDI) and SF-36 were applied to the subjects. Evaluation of the patients was done before the treatment and 2 weeks and 6 weeks after the start of the treatment. Patients were divided into three groups according to the computer-generated randomization table: Soft cervical collar, semi-rigid cervical collar and control group. The patients in collar groups were asked to wear the collars for 8 hours during the day for the first 2 weeks. Results. Comparison of the soft cervical collar group with the control group showed significantly better improvement in the former in VAS and NDI scores at week 2 and 6 (p < 0.05), in SF-36 pain perception subunit at week 2 (p < 0.05), and in SF-36 physical component score at week 6 (p < 0.05). Comparison of the semi-rigid cervical collar group with the control showed significantly better improvement in the former for NDI scores and SF-36 pain perception subunit at week 2 and 6 (p < 0.05). Conclusions. The results of our study have indicated that the use of soft and semi-rigid cervical collars was more effective than conservative treatment in treatment of neck pain and disability in acute cervical radiculopathy in the short term. Soft cervical collars were also found to be more effective for pain management than semi-rigid cervical collars.
Authors and Affiliations
Meliha Kasapoğlu Aksoy, Lale Altan, Altuğ Güner
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP252512
- DOI 10.18621/eurj.332251
- Views 116
- Downloads 0
Evaluation of nursing students’ diagnoses using the Omaha System
Objectives: Nursing process guides the students in the diagnosing, planning, intervention and evaluation of patients/families, and it also gives a systematic point of view. The Omaha System is used as a nursing classific...
Evaluation of Tp-e interval and Tp-e/ QTc ratio in patients with mild to moderate psoriasis
Objectives. Many systemic diseases including cardiovascular disturbances have been described in psoriatic patients. In the previous studies, left ventricle (LV) subclinical myocardial dysfunction was reported in the psor...
An investigation of the prevalence of depression and related factors in pregnant women living in the province of Erzurum
Objective: Pregnancy is a time of numerous biological and psychosocial changes in women. The purpose of this study was to reveal the risk of depression, an important psychological problem, in pregnant women, and its asso...
Current cancer stem cell biomarkers in laryngeal cancer
Larynx cancer (LCa), being an aggressive malignancy, is the second most commonly diagnosed malignant type of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma worldwide. Although there have been significant improvements in the detec...
The effect of perimenopausal estrogen levels on depression and anxiety: a pilot study
Objectives. Among women in the perimenopausal period, rapid hormonal changes can be seen. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between depression, anxiety and changing estrogen hormone levels at...