Abstract
Objectives: Limitations in the thoracic spine movement can cause excessive lumbar rotation and back pain; however, it is unclear whether increasing thoracic rotation reduces excessive lumbar rotation. This study aimed to examine the effect of thoracic spine mobilization on the rotation angle of the lumbar spine during trunk rotation. Methods: Twenty healthy volunteers participated in this study. We identified and then mobilized three restricted vertebrae in the thoracic spine through a physical examination using a facet joint traction mobilization technique. Rotational movements of both the thoracic and lumbar spine were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Measurement items included: (1) lumbar rotational angle measured via magnetic resonance imaging taken in the lateral position with 45° of trunk rotation; and (2) thoracolumbar rotation range of motion in the sitting position. In a posthoc analysis, paired t-tests or Wilcoxon tests were used to examine the mean differences in these measurements, and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 26.0. Results: The thoracic rotation range significantly increased after intervention (pre-intervention: 50.0 ± 15.7°; post-intervention: 54.6 ± 17.4°), and the rotational angle of the lumbar spine significantly decreased after intervention (pre-intervention: 7.07 ± 1.65°; post-intervention: 5.90 ± 1.87°). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that increasing thoracic spine rotation using joint mobilization could reduce lumbar rotation.
Recommended Citation
Yasuda, Toru; Yoshida, Ryota; and Kuruma, Hironobu
(2023)
"Effects of Thoracic Spine Mobilization on the Lumbar Spine Rotation Angle during Trunk Rotation,"
Asian Journal of Physical Therapy: Vol. 1:
No.
2023, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.lmunet.edu/ajpt/vol1/iss2023/4
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