A clinical prediction rule to identify patients with neck pain likely to benefit from home-based mechanical cervical traction.

Eur Spine J Jun;20(6);912 2011

The objective of the study was to identify those with neck pain who may be benefited by the use of a home-traction device (over-door, Comfort-trac etc). The treatment was administered for (2) weeks. The prediction rules were a low FABQ, pre-treatment pain of 7/10, positive distraction test and pain in the shoulder or below. NPS score and NDI global rating, of the 103 patients 47 had a positive response to HMCT. With satisfaction of at least 3 of the 4 variables (CPR’s) the interventions’ success rate increased from 46% to over 80%.

Conclusion: it appears that patients’ whose neck pain may benefit from HMCT can be identified.

Comment: we have discussed the importance of the FABQ at length for over a decade in regards to physical treatment methods. This study continues that trend. In addition the importance of distraction-testing (and Spurling-compression) cannot be overemphasized. Both home-based and in-office traction benefits those who show tolerance and improvement to manual distraction.