| dc.description | Introduction: Cervical radiculopathy (CR) it is defined as an objective loss of sensorial function and/or motor, due to the impairment of neural conduction on a cervical level. Still, it presents difficult management of its clinical symptoms/signs. Therefore, neural mobilization (NM) has presented beneficial effects in the treatment of neural dysfunctions.
Objective: The present study aimed to verify the effects of neural mobilization in the management of CR.
Design: This study is characterized as an integrative review.
Method: Articles were selected from the following databases: MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online /PubMed); PEDro (Phisiotherapy Evidence Database); LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences), Cochrane Library and Science Direct, in April of 2021. Inclusion criteria were: clinical trials in individuals with CR and treated with NM combined to another treatment or not, restricted to portuguese, english and spanish language, without restriction of publication date. The outcomes evaluated were: pain, functional capacity, range of motion, and handgrip strength. The PEDro scale was used to evaluate methodological quality in the included studies.
Results: 12 articles were included and of these there wasn´t consensus on the best parameters for the management of the outcomes analyzed (pain, functional capacity, range of motion, and handgrip strength). In fact, the articles always used NM combined to others nonpharmacological therapies, without preponderant effect of the associated therapies in the analyzed outcomes. Finally, despite the variability of prescribed doses, the articles presented methodological quality mostly classified as acceptable to good.
Conclusion: The present study verified that NM is an interesting therapeutic tool for pain management, functional capacity, handgrip strength and range of motion in individuals with CR, however it needs better standardization and description of the techniques used in literature. | |
