Treatments involving neck manipulation may be associated with stroke, though it cannot be said with certainty that neck manipulation causes strokes, according to a new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke.
Pierre Fayad, M.D., professor in the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences and director of The Nebraska Medical Center Stroke Center, was part of the 13-member team that co-authored the statement.
Stroke symptoms
You should seek emergency medical evaluation if you develop neurological symptoms after neck manipulation or trauma, such as:
- Pain in the back of your neck or in your head.
- Dizziness/vertigo.
- Double vision.
- Unsteadiness when walking.
- Slurred speech.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Jerky eye movements.
The group was headed by Jose Biller, M.D., of the Loyola University Health System in Chicago, and Ralph Sacco, M.D., of the University of Miami Hospital, with other members representing the Mayo Clinic, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Connecticut, Tufts University, and the University of Kansas, among others.
Cervical artery dissection (CD) is a small tear in the layers of artery walls in the neck. It can result in ischemic stroke if a blood clot forms after a trivial or major trauma in the neck and later causes blockage of a blood vessel in the brain.
“Cervical artery dissection is an important cause of stroke in young and middle-aged adults, and it is often unrecognized,” Dr. Fayad said.
“Most dissections involve some trauma, stretch or mechanical stress,” Dr. Biller said. “Sudden movements that can hyperextend or rotate the neck – such as whiplash, certain sports movements, or even violent coughing or vomiting – can result in CD, even if they are deemed inconsequential by the patient.”
Although techniques for cervical manipulative therapy vary, some maneuvers used as therapy by health practitioners also extend and rotate the neck and sometimes involve a forceful thrust.
There are four arteries that supply blood to the brain: the two carotid arteries on each side of the neck, and the two vertebral arteries on the back of the neck. The influence of neck manipulation seems more important in vertebral artery dissection than in internal carotid artery dissection.
“Although a cause-and-effect relationship between these therapies and CD has not been established and the risk is probably low, CD can result in serious neurological injury,” Dr. Biller said. “Patients should be informed of this association before undergoing neck manipulation.”
The scientific statement is endorsed by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons
So somebody has theorized this being a possibility and a cause-effect relationship has NOT even been established, yet we should caution our patients about the possibility when they get jostled around more while having a romp in the sack?