Comparison of Mulligan Traction and Neural Mobilizations in the Management of Pain in Patients with Cervical Radiculopathies; A Quasi-Experimental Study

Objective: To compare the effects of Mulligan manual traction and techniques in neural mobilization for managing pain in cervical radiculopathies. Methodology: It was a quasi-experimental study at physical therapy departments of Amin Welfare & Teaching Hospital and Allama Iqbal Memorial Teaching Hospital Sialkot for 6 months from December 2018 to May 2019 after Ethical approval. The sample of 34 participants was equally divided into group A & B. Patients were recruited on the basis of pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Group A was administered mulligan traction. Group B received neural mobilization of ulnar, median and radial nerve thrice a week. Hot pack and TENS were applied as baseline treatment to both the groups. Numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) and neck disability index (NDI) were used to measure the outcomes and data was recorded before 1st treatment session and after last treatment session. P value ≤ 0.005 was considered as significant. Results: Among the total of 34 sample size, 25 patients were females (73.52%) and 9 were males (26.47%). The mean Age±SD was 44.79±7.885 years. The mean NPRS score reduced from 8.18±0.809 to 3.12±1.269 (P=.000) in group A and from 7.47±1.007 to 2.76±1.147 (P=.004) in group B after treatment. Mean Score of NDI reduced to 4.78±1.23 from 16.00±1.71 (P=.000) in group A and 5.08±1.38 from 14.38±2.19 (P=.005). Conclusion: The study revealed that mulligan manual traction and neural mobilization were effective for the pain management and improvement of functional abilities in patients with cervical radiculopathies; but none of them is superior to other. Key words: Mulligan Manual Traction, Cervical Radiculopathy, neural mobilization, Numeric Pain Rating scale, Neck disability index