Methodological quality of randomized controlled trials of spinal manipulation and mobilization in tension-type headache, migraine, and cervicogenic headache.

Study Design: Literature review of quality of clinical trials.

Objective: To determine the methodological quality of published randomized controlled trials that used spinal manipulation and/or mobilization to treat patients with tension-type headache (TTH), cervicogenic headache (CeH), and migraine (M) in the last decade.

Background: TTH, CeH, and M are the most prevalent types of headaches seen in adults.

Are manual therapies effective in reducing pain from tension-type headache?: a systematic review.

Objectives: A systematic review was performed to establish whether manual therapies have specific efficacy in reducing pain from tension-type headache (TTH).

Methods: Computerized literature searches were performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, MANTIS, CINAHL, PEDro, and Cochrane databases. Papers were included if they described clinical (open noncontrolled studies) or randomized controlled trials in which any form of manual therapy was used for TTH, and if they were published after 1994 in the English language.

Validity of the lateral gliding test as tool for the diagnosis of intervertebral joint dysfunction in the lower cervical spine.

Objective: To determine if the lateral gliding test for the cervical spine is a valid clinical test compared with radiological assessment as a tool for the diagnosis of intervertebral joint dysfunctions in the lower cervical spine in patients presenting with mechanical neck pain.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with mechanical neck pain presenting with an asymmetry of at least 5 degrees between left and right cervical lateral flexion and diagnosed with an intervertebral joint dysfunction in the lower cervical spine based on the lateral gliding test were studied. Two anterior-posterior x-rays were performed on each patient at maximum end-range of right and left cervical lateral flexion.

Spinal manipulative therapy in the management of cervicogenic headache.

Patients suffering from cervicogenic headache (CeH) are commonly treated with spinal manipulative therapy. We have analyzed the quality and the outcomes of published, randomized, controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of spinal manipulation in CeH. Among 121 relevant articles, only two met all the inclusion criteria.

Referred pain from the trochlear region in tension-type headache: a myofascial trigger point from the superior oblique muscle.

Background: Tension-type headache (TTH) is a prototypical headache in which myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) can play an important role. To our knowledge, MTrPs in the muscle tissues of the trochlear region, ie, the superior oblique muscle (SOM), have not been previously mentioned, and a referred pain pattern from this region has never been reported.

Objective: To describe the referred pain from the trochlear area based on the examination of MTrPs in the SOM in patients with episodic and chronic TTH (CTTH).

Two exercise interventions for the management of patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The purpose of this clinical trial was to evaluate the impact of a 4-month comprehensive protocol of strengthening and flexibility exercises developed by our research group versus conventional exercises for patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) on functional and mobility outcomes.

Design: Randomized controlled trial. Forty-five patients diagnosed with AS according to the modified criteria of New York were allocated to control or experimental groups using a random numbers table.

Manual therapies in the management of tension-type headache.

We describe a patient with successive attacks (40 to 90 minutes) of cluster-like headache associated with aphasia, and contralateral hemihypesthesia and hemiplegia. The condition can best be described as cluster-like headache aura status.