흉곽출구증후군: 사각근 신장운동의 효과

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: The Effects of Scalenus Stretching Exercise

The term thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is used to describe patients with compressed subclavian arteries, veins, and brachial plexuses in the region of the thoracic outlet. The objective of this study was to evaluate a scalenus stretching exercise that aims to restore normal function to patients with TOS. This study consisted of 60 patients with symptoms of TOS, and divided the patients into 3 groups: one that received manual therapy, one that practiced self stretching, and a control group. Each group consisted of 20 patients. This study assessed the efficacy of scalenus stretching exercise by examining the resting pain, tenderness, spherical grip power, and pinch grip power of patients. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Scheffe post hoc test, and independent t-test. The results showed that resting pain was statistically significant within the manual therapy and self stretching groups (p<.05), and that the resting pain of the manual therapy group was more statistically significant than that of the self stretching group (p<.05). Tenderness, spherical grip power, and pinch grip were statistically significant within the manual therapy and self stretching groups (p<.05), but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p>.05). Finally I could see that there were no statistical differences between manual therapy and self stretching to improve the symptoms of the patients with TOS. These results imply that self stretching by patients is as important as manual therapy by a physical therapist.