INVESTIGATION OF CERVICAL JOINT POSITION SENSE IN PATIENTS WITH THORACIC OUTLET SYNDROME: A PILOT STUDY

Purpose: Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) is a common compressive lesion in the cervico-thoracic region. Although extremity involvement is known, cervical involvement has not been investigated. Our study was planned to evaluate the cervical joint position sense in TOS and to investigate its relationship with TOS symptoms.

Method: Thirteen individuals with TOS (10 women, 3 men, age: 26±4.73) and 13 healthy individuals (11 women, 2 men, age: 25.8±4.18) were included in the study. Cervical joint position sense of all participants was measured. Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and Neck Disability Index scores of individuals with TOS were recorded. Pain intensity during activity was measured with the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the symptom duration was recorded.

Results: The VAS score of patients with TOS was 5.4±2.69, and symptom duration was 5.03±2.93 years. There was no difference between the cervical joint position sense of individuals with TOS and healthy individuals (right rotation (p=0.817), left rotation (p=0.209), right lateral flexion (p=0.248) and left lateral flexion (p=0.457). The kinesiophobia of individuals with TOS was 37.69±7.9, alexithymia was 44.53±13.5, and disability score was 14.61±5.45. A positive correlation (r=0.670, p=0.012) was found between kinesiophobia and alexithymia in individuals with TOS.

Conclusion: Cervical joint position sense has not affected in TOS patients. The results need to be evaluated in a larger sample size. The relationship between alexithymia and kinesiophobia may be the result of a long symptom duration. We think that detailed studies on chronic pain in patients with TOS are needed.