The effect of thoracic manipulation on pulmonary function in swimmers

  • Alexandre Miguel Guerra Cordeiro Health Sciences and NICiTeS. Technologies Research Center. Ribeiro Sanches School of Health Sciences. IPLuso. Portugal.
  • Mónica Teixeira Health Sciences and NICiTeS. Technologies Research Center. Ribeiro Sanches School of Health Sciences. IPLuso. Portugal.
  • Miguel Faria Health Sciences and NICiTeS. Technologies Research Center. Ribeiro Sanches School of Health Sciences. IPLuso. Portugal.
  • Mafalda Sousa Western Lisbon Hospital Center. Santa Cruz Hospital. Lisbon. Portugal.
  • Paulo Serrasqueiro Swimming Head Coach. Technical Director at Lisbon Swimming Association. Portugal.
  • Rodrigo Ruivo Exercise Department. Clinica das Conchas. Neuromuscular Research Lab. Faculty of Human Motricity. University of Lisbon. Portugal.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33155/j.ramd.2020.03.005
Keywords: Manipulación columna torácica, Función pulmonar, Manipulación de alta velocidad y baja amplitud, Movilización articular de baja velocidad Thoracic spine manipulation, Pulmonary function, High velocity low amplitude manipulation, Low velocity joint mobilization Manipulação coluna torácica, Função pulmonar, Manipulação de alta velocidade e baixa amplitude, Mobilização articular de baixa velocidade

Abstract

Objective: Spinal manipulation has been used to improve respiratory function in healthy individuals. However, it has been observed that there are no studies in the context of sports activities. The objective of this study was to analyse the effect of thoracic spinal manipulation on forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second and maximal voluntary ventilation in swimmers.

Method: A randomized controlled crossover study consisting of 21 swimmers, divided into two groups (Intervention vs Control), aged 16 – 24y, where forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second and maximal voluntary ventilation were measured in five evaluation moments: at baseline and, 1 minute, 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes following the thoracic spinal manipulation procedures.

Results: ANOVA tests showed no statistically significant differences for forced vital capacity (p = 0.35) and forced expiratory volume in one second (p = 0.25) among the five evaluation moments. With the maximal voluntary ventilation there was a statistically significant (p = 0.02) reduction, observed between baseline (86.00 litres) and at 10 minutes (79.29 litres) and 30 minutes (76.24 litres). No significant differences were observed between the results of intervention and control groups.

Conclusions: In the current study no significant differences were observed in pulmonary function after thoracic spinal manipulation. Future research efforts should examine the effects of different manual therapy techniques and treatment protocols.

Published
2020-03-11
Issue
Vol. 14 No. 2 (2021): June 2021
Section
Originals
Page/s
65-69
DOI
https://doi.org/10.33155/j.ramd.2020.03.005