Immediate Effects of Spinal Manipulation on Shoulder Motion Range and Pain in Individuals With Shoulder Pain: A Randomized Trial

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of thoracic spinal manipulation (SM) on shoulder pain and ranges of motion in individuals with shoulder pain. The sample was composed of 60 individuals, randomly allocated into the manipulation group (n = 30), who received the SM, and the placebo group (n = 30) who received a placebo manipulation. Pain evaluation was performed using the visual analog scale, and evaluation of shoulder flexion and abduction ranges of motion was assessed using a goniometer pre- and post-intervention. The intervention was performed by either upper thoracic SM or a placebo manipulation. The manipulation group demonstrated increased flexion and abduction of the painful shoulder (P < .01) and increased abduction of the nonpainful shoulder (P = .03), but only the abduction of the painful shoulder reached the minimal detectable change. The placebo group showed a post-intervention increase in the flexion (P = .03) and abduction (P < .01) movement of the painful shoulder. Both groups presented a statistically significant reduction in post-intervention pain (P < .01), but not clinically significant. Although the SM demonstrated a statistically significant difference for shoulder pain, this was not over the clinically meaningful change. Only the abduction of the painful shoulder reached the minimal detectable change.