Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Basic Science

Background: The prevalence of cervical disc bulge increases with aging for both men and women and is most frequent in people in their third to fifth decades of life. It is common in females, accounting for more than 60% of cases. Cervical traction is generally regarded as a conservative management in treating various types of neck disorders. Purpose: This study was conducted to compare the effect of prone traction with supine traction on neck pain intensity level, neck disability level and the size of the bulged disc in patients with cervical disc bulge. Subjects: Forty five patients of both gender with cervical disc bulge at C5, C6 and/or C6, C7 levels participated in this study. Their ages ranged from 30 to 50 years old. They were randomly assigned into three groups (A, B and C), the three groups received conventional physical therapy for cervical disc bulge. For group B traction from prone position was added and for group C traction from supine position was conducted. All participants received 3 sessions per week for one month. The assessment done before and after one month of treatment using visual analogue scal for assessment of pain, neck disability index for neck function disability level assessment while size of disc bulge was assessed by using magnetic resonance image. Results: There was statistical significant decrease in the visual analogue scale and neck disability index scores of the three groups post treatment in comparison with that of pretreatment with high statistical significant decrease in the scores of group B and C post treatment in comparison with that of group A, while there was no statistical significant difference between group B and C in post treatment scores. There were no statistical significant differences between the post treatment measures in comparison with that of the pretreatment for the three groups regarding disc bulge size

Issued also as CD