Clinical Usefulness of M-test on Patients with Chronic Neck Pain: A Single Arm Pre-post Comparison Study

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of M-test (Meridian test) as an adjunctive evaluation and treatment in patients with chronic neck pain. Methods This study was a single arm pre-post comparison study. Thirty-six eligible subjects with chronic neck pain were recruited from August to September, 2015. M-test was used for evaluating the condition of meridian, which can induce the limitation of ROM and body discomfort. Subjects were offered intradermal acupuncture treatment on one-acupoint for 48 hours. Cervical numeric rating scale (NRS), cervical range of motion (ROM), neck disability index (NDI) and surface electromyography (SEMG) were measured before and after the treatment. Total NRS and the number of movement limitation of M-test were also measured before and after the treatment. Results Among the 36 participating subjects, 4 subjects were lost to follow-up or excluded in accordance with the criteria. Significant differences on Cervical NRS and NDI were found after the treatment (p＜0.001). There was a significant difference in the range of left cervical rotation (p＜0.05). Root mean square (RMS) of SEMG significantly decreased on the right sternocleidomastoid muscle (p＜0.05), but significantly increased on the right trapezius muscle (p＜0.05). Median frequency (MdF) of SEMG significantly increased on both sternocleidomastoid muscles. There appears to be significant differences after the treatment in total NRS and the number of movement limitation of M-test (p＜0.05). Conclusions These results suggest that the evaluation and treatment of M-test based on the meridian and collateral theory were effective on cervical NRS and NDI, and also improved the movability of human body.