Comparative effectiveness of transverse oscillatory pressure and cervical traction in the management of cervical radiculopathy: A randomized controlled study

Background Radiating neck pain is one of the major symptoms of cervical radiculopathy (CR). Objective This study compared the effects of cervical traction (CT) and transverse oscillatory pressure (TOP) in management of CR. Methods Seventy-five participants with unilateral radiating neck pain were randomly allocated into three groups, 25 (14 males, 11 females) for CT, 25 (15 males and 10 females) for TOP and 25 (11 males and 14 females) control (Cnt) group. All participants received massage, cryotherapy and active exercises three times in a week for six weeks. CT was administered to CT group, TOP to TOP group while the third group served as control. Pain intensity (PI) and neck functional disability (NFD) were assessed pretreatment, 3rd and 6th week of intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results There was a significant reduction in PI and NFD between pretreatment and 6th week in all the groups (p<0.05). The effect size of PI (F=7.533, p<0.001) and disability index...