Cervical Artery Dysfunction and the risks of moving the cervical spine

Hi all, whilst surfing the web this morning I came across a useful reference on VBI insufficiency. This down-loadable file was accompanied by a statement from the 2007 Honorary Chair of the Manipulation Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (MACP). The MACP is a group of over 1100 physiotherapists, who are members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

I hope it serves as a useful reference and please do visit their site should you be interested in further studies in manipulative therapy.

You can read about this group and find out about their continuing education in the UK here: MACP

Cervical Artery Dysfunction and the risks of moving the cervical spine.

A critical review of the evidence base was commissioned in 2004 by the Manipulation Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (MACP) in response to demands from the MACP membership. The demands suggested an uncertainty among the members regarding the nature of arterial insufficiency related to the cervical spine (commonly referred to as vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI)), the risks of manual therapy with respect to such arterial complications, and the MACP's position on pre-cervical spine treatment screening. The review was undertaken by an international group of clinicians and academics and was published on the MACP website in 2005, being made freely available to all


The document was a consultation document and comment was invited from all relevant stakeholders. The 2005 review has now been amended in response to the feedback received and in light of more recent evidence. The updated review provides an evidence-based information source to further facilitate clinicians understanding of the effect of manual therapy on the cervical spine with regards to cervical blood flow. The document is designed to assist clinicians in their clinical reasoning during their assessment of neck pain and headache in relation to potential neurovascular dysfunction. It is an investigation of a wide range of vascular conditions of the cervico-cranial region and their relationship to manual therapy and movement of the neck.


The document is NOT a clinical guideline, but DOES provide evidence-based information which may assist in differential diagnosis and pre-treatment screening. The MACP recommends the clinician approaches these clinical issues using the same evidence based clinical decision making processes that are widely advocated in today's health care environment. There are considerable resources on the World Wide Web to guide clinical decision making, examples of which can be found via the links below.

Dr Chris McCarthy
Honorary Chair of the MACP
2007

http://www.intute.ac.uk/healthandlifesciences/

http://www.haemodynamics.com/downloads.php