The efficacy of a home-mechanical traction unit for patients with mild to moderate cervical osteoarthrosis: A pilot study

BACKGROUND Traction has been suggested to be an effective treatment for symptoms of neck disorder in patients with no contraindications. However, according to previous researches, the effectiveness of traction is controversial, particularly compared to other conservative treatments. This trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of sustained traction, using an over-the-door home cervical traction unit in combination with routine physical therapy on reducing cervical osteoarthrosis symptoms including neck pain, medication use and disability level compared to routine physical therapy alone. METHODS In this double- blinded pilot study with a pre-post test design and a control group, 20 women with mild to moderate osteoarthrosis were systematically assigned to the over-the-door home cervical traction (mean±SD age: 50.5±4.45yrs) or control groups (mean±SD age: 55.6±7.34yrs). Pain, level of disability, and drug consumption were evaluated before and after 10 sessions of intervention. Data were analyzed using parametric or non-parametric statistic including the paired-sample t-test, independent sample t-test, and Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney u test for intra and inter groups comparison based on the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test results. RESULTS Patients in both groups showed a significant decrease in pain intensity and disability level (p<0.05). Despite the greater improvement in pain levels and disability in the experimental group compared to the controls, the differences were not significant (p>0.05). No significant differences were found in terms of drugs consumption within and between the groups at the end of the treatment (p>0.05). CONCLUSION The results revealed that applying sustained traction using an over-the-door home cervical traction unit was not significantly superior to the routine physical therapy and ergonomic training to manage symptoms including neck pain and disability in a small group of mild to moderate cervical osteoarthrosis patients.