Asymmetry of Cervical Multifidus and Longus Colli Muscles Size in Participants With and Without Cervical Radicular Pain

The aim of this study was to determine the asymmetry of cervical multifidus (MF) and longus colli (LC) muscles in patients with unilateral chronic radicular neck pain (CRNP) and healthy subjects using ultrasonography.Ninety five individuals (50 patients with unilateral CRNP and 45 healthy subjects) participated in this study. The size of the cervical MF and LC muscles; anterior posterior dimension (APD) and lateral dimension (LD); were bilaterally measured in a relaxed state using ultrasonography.Patients with CRNP showed greater asymmetry in the cervical MF and LC muscles size than the healthy subjects. The mean percentages differences between sides for MF and LC muscles size was higher in patients than that of healthy subjects (for both APD and LD; P0.05). The ratio of smaller to larger dimensions of the cervical MF and LC muscles for patients were significantly less than that of healthy controls (for both APD and LD; P0.05).The results indicated that cervical MF and LC muscles showed higher asymmetry between sides and lesser ratio of smaller size to larger size in patients with CRNP as compared with healthy subjects. Current results confirmed the presence of MF and LC muscles atrophy in subjects with CRNP.