Trial reportBMC musculoskeletal disorders2020
The effect of manual therapy to the thoracic spine on pain-free grip and sympathetic activity in patients with lateral epicondylalgia humeri. A randomized, sample sized planned, placebo-controlled, patient-blinded monocentric trial.
Trial report in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of mobilization or manipulation of the thoracic spine on autonomic nervous system markers in symptomatic and asymptomatic participants - a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Manual therapy and exercise for lateral elbow pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of High-Velocity Elbow Manipulation on Forearm Muscle Electromyographic Recovery in Karting Drivers: A Randomized Within-Participant Sham-Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Knowledge and use of thoracic manipulations by manual therapists in Belgium and the Netherlands.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2026Article
- Neuromuscular Response to High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude Spinal Manipulation-An Overview.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- The Effect of Soft Tissue Release at the Thoracolumbar Junction in a Patient with Bilateral Leg Symptoms: A Case Report.Galen medical journal · 2024Article
- Effectiveness of thoracic spine manipulation for upper quadrant musculoskeletal disorders: protocol for a systematic review.BMJ open · 2023Article
- The analgesic effect of joint mobilization and manipulation in tendinopathy: a narrative review.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe treatment of first choice for lateral epicondylalgia humeri is conservative therapy. Recent findings indicate that spinal manual therapy is effective in the treatment of lateral epicondylalgia. We hypothesized that thoracic spinal mobilization in patients with epicondylalgia would have a positive short-term effect on pain and sympathetic activity.
methodsThirty patients (all analyzed) with clinically diagnosed (physical examination) lateral epicondylalgia were enrolled in this randomized, sample size planned, placebo-controlled, patient-blinded, monocentric trial. Pain-free grip, skin conductance and peripheral skin temperature were measured before and after the intervention. The treatment group (15 patients) received a one-time 2-min T5 costovertebral mobilization (2 Hz), and the placebo group (15 patients) received a 2-min one-time sham ultrasound therapy.
resultsMobilization at the thoracic spine resulted in significantly increased strength of pain-free grip + 4.6 kg ± 6.10 (p = 0.008) and skin conductance + 0.76 μS ± 0.73 (p = 0.000004) as well as a decrease in peripheral skin temperature by - 0.80 °C ± 0.35 (p < 0.0000001) within the treatment group.
conclusionA thoracic costovertebral T5 mobilization at a frequency of 2 Hz shows an immediate positive effect on pain-free grip and sympathetic activity in patients with lateral epicondylalgia. CLINICAL
trial registrationGerman clinical trial register DRKS00013964, retrospectively registered on 2.2.2018.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.