Visceral Manipulation Decreases Pain, Increases Cervical Mobility and Electromyographic Activity of the Upper Trapezius Muscle in Non-Specific Neck Pain Subjects with Functional Dyspepsia: Two Case Reports

• Published in: International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 25 - 30
• Main Authors: Silva, Andréia C O, Oliveira, Claudia S, Biasotto-Gonzalez, Daniela A, Fumagalli, Marco A, Politti, Fabiano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Multimed Inc 01-06-2019
• Subjects: Practice; muscle pain; neck pain; functional dyspepsia; electromyography; visceral manipulation
• ISSN: 1916-257X; 1916-257X
• DOI: 10.3822/ijtmb.v12i2.399

The lack of clear knowledge about the etiology of nonspecific neck pain (NS-NP) strengthens the need for other mechanisms, still poorly described in the literature, to be investigated. Therefore, a quantitative analysis of two cases of NS-NP in subjects with functiona dyspepsia was conducted in order to verify the immediate and seven-day postintervention effects of visceral manipulation (VM) to the stomach and liver on neck pain, cervical range of motion (ROM), and electromyographic (EMG) activity of the upper trapezius muscle.
Case A was an 18-year-old female with a complaint of nonspecific neck pain for one year, with reported pain on waking, momentary intermittent pain, and occasional symptoms of paresthesia in the upper limbs. Case B was a 25-year-old female with a complaint of cervical pain for one year, accompanied by pain in the unilateral temporomandibular joint, and medial thoracic region. Both cases presented functional dyspepsia.
The results demonstrated (subjects A and B, respectively) a general increase in cervical ROM (range: 12.5% to 44.44%) and amplitude of the EMG signal (immediately postintervention: 57.62 and 20.78; post seven days: 53.54% and 18.83%), and an increase in muscle fiber conduction velocity immediately postintervention (4.44% and 7.44%) and a decrease seven days postintervention (25.25% and 21.18%). For pain, a decrease was observed immediately postintervention (23.07% and 76.92%) and seven days postintervention (100% for both subjects).
A single VM provided important clinical improvement in neck pain, cervical spine range of motion, and EMG activity of the upper trapezius muscle, immediately and seven days postintervention in two NS-NP subjects with functional dyspepsia.