Evaluation of visual and auditory reaction time, pain, and hand grip strength performance before and after conventional physiotherapy in patients with herniated cervical intervertebral disc with radiculopathy

OBJECTIVE: Herniated cervical intervertebral disc (cervical disc herniation [CDH]) with radiculopathy is known to occur in seven or eight out of 100 people worldwide. This disease causes movement limitation, loss of strength, and pain of upper extremity. The aim of this study is the effect of conventional physiotherapy agents on predetermined parameters in patients with cervical radiculopathy and to compare the results with healthy controls. METHODS: A total of 102 patients with CDH with radiculopathy and 98 healthy controls were included in the study. Visual reaction time (VRT) and auditory reaction time (ART) measurements were evaluated with reaction timer, while the pain was assessed with visual analog scale (VAS) and handgrip strength (HGS) assessed with hand dynamometer, respectively. Conventional physiotherapy (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, hot pack application, and therapeutic ultrasound) agents were applied 5 days/week for 3 weeks as treatment protocol. RESULTS: As a result, VAS, VRT, and ART scores were significantly decreased, and HGS scores increased significantly in both female and male patients post-treatment measures (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between patient group and control group measurements in post-treatment evaluations (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: This study presents the conclusion to literature that conventional physiotherapy agents have the effect of decreasing pain and regaining motor function and also a therapeutic effect on VRT and ART in the treatment of patients with CDH with radiculopathy.