Article

Previous studies have identified sensorimotor disturbances and greater
fatigability of neck muscles in patients with neck pain. The purpose of this
study was to investigate the effect of neck pain and neck flexor fatigue on
standing balance following postural perturbations. METHODS: Twenty patients with
chronic neck pain (CNP) (24.7+/-3.6 year-old) and 20 age-matched asymptomatic
subjects (22.1+/-2.2 year-old) were recruited. Subjects stood barefoot on a force
plate and experienced backward perturbations before and after neck flexor
fatigue. Center of pressure, electromyography of cervical and lumbar muscles, and
head/trunk accelerations were recorded. Two-way ANOVA (painxfatigue) was used for
statistical analysis. RESULTS: CNP group showed larger body sway during quiet
standing but not during perturbed standing compared with asymptomatic adults. In
both groups, neck flexor fatigue resulted in greater body sway during the quiet
standing but smaller body sway during perturbed standing, increased neck muscle
activations and decreased lumbar muscle activations, as well as increased time to
maximal head acceleration. CONCLUSIONS: Disturbed balance control was observed in
CNP patients during the quiet standing. However, a rigid strategy was used to
minimize the postural sway and to protect the head against backward perturbations
in both CNP and asymptomatic young adults after neck flexor fatigue. The results
facilitate the understanding of how the subjects with chronic neck pain and with
neck muscle fatigue deal with the challenging condition. Further studies are
needed to verify if such phenomenon could be changed after the intervention of
specific flexor muscle retraining and balance control exercises.
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Langue : ANGLAIS