Effect of a Traction Exercise Neck Brace on Cervical Spondylopathy Radiculopathy: A Clinical Study and Finite Element Analysis

Traction of cervical spine is an effective method for the treatment of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy (CSR). In this study, a cervical tractor named traction exercise neck brace (TENB) was used to evaluate its effect on the patients with CSR. Forty CSR volunteers were recruited and randomly divided into two groups. One group was subjected to cervical muscle exercise with TENB under static traction condition. Another group was subjected to (JOBT) as controls. Symptoms of CSR were evaluated by the visual analogue scale (VAS) and neck disability index (NDI). Imaging characteristics were assessed by curvature of the cervical spine and size of the intervertebral foramen. A finite element (FE) analysis model of cervical spine was established by 3D reconstruction to simulate the TENB traction, which evaluates the biomechanical performance. Results showed that TENB significantly reduced scores of VAS and NDI in subjects, and this improved effect on symptoms of pain and radiculopathy is better than that of JOBT. TENB also improved the cervical curvature and enlarged intervertebral foramen at the C4–C6 level. Moreover, FE analysis found that simulated TENB traction increased the spacing of intervertebral foramen, intervertebral disc, and zygapophyseal and uncovertebral joints and changed the stress distribution on the facet joints and nucleus pulposus. This study demonstrates that TENB relieves the symptoms of CSR by adjusting structure of cervical vertebra and restoring its biomechanical performance, which may be a promising instrument in the treatment of CSR.