Episode

Dr. Lindsay Gorrell and I discuss her research regarding spinal manipulation, the vertebral artery and reporting of adverse events. Lindsay Gorrell completed her clinical training in Chiropractic and a Master of Research (The effect of manual and instrument applied cervical spine manipulation on mechanical neck pain) at Macquarie University, Australia. She then completed a PhD (Musculoskeletal Biomechanical and Electromyographical Responses Associated with Spinal Manipulation) under the supervision of Drs Walter Herzog and Jay Triano at The University of Calgary, Canada. She is now working as an International Research Fellow at the Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Lindsay is also studying a Master of Science in Medical Education at The University of Oxford, England.

Lindsay’s research interests are centered on investigating: i) the delivery of spinal manipulation; ii) the physiological responses and clinical outcomes occurring in response to spinal manipulation; and iii) the safety of the manual therapy. This requires different experimental approaches depending on the research question of interest. Most recently, she has published on the relationship between the amount of strain experienced by the vertebral artery, the 3D movements of the head and neck and the forces applied by clinicians during cervical spine manipulation and physiological responses to cervical and upper thoracic spinal manipulation. Lindsay has maintained part-time clinical practice since graduation.  

View Dr. Gorrell’s researchgate page here.

Below are the research studies that we discuss in this episode.

1.The reporting of adverse events following spinal manipulation in randomized clinical trials-a systematic review.Gorrell LM, Engel RM, Brown B, Lystad RP.Spine J. 2016 Sep;16(9):1143-51. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2016.05.018. Epub 2016 May 27.PMID: 27241208 Review.
2.Differences in force-time parameters and electromyographic characteristics of two high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulations following one another in quick succession.Gorrell LM, Conway PJ, Herzog W.Chiropr Man Therap. 2020 Dec 8;28(1):67. doi: 10.1186/s12998-020-00355-0.PMID: 33287851 Free PMC article.
3.Kinematics of the head and associated vertebral artery length changes during high-velocity, low-amplitude cervical spine manipulation.Gorrell LM, Kuntze G, Ronsky JL, Carter R, Symons B, Triano JJ, Herzog W.Chiropr Man Therap. 2022 Jun 1;30(1):28. doi: 10.1186/s12998-022-00438-0.PMID: 35650649 Free PMC article.
4.Vertebral arteries do not experience tensile force during manual cervical spine manipulation applied to human cadavers.Gorrell LM, Sawatsky A, Edwards WB, Herzog W.J Man Manip Ther. 2022 Nov 15:1-9. doi: 10.1080/10669817.2022.2148048. Online ahead of print.PMID: 36382347
Dr. Ken Weber

Dr. Ken Weber and I discuss his research pursuits which involve: 1) developing imaging modalities that are more sensitive and specific to the pathology, providing more diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive information; 2) providing more quantitative information to the clinician; and 3) using these measures to better understand the nervous system and how it functions, the neurophysiology of pain, how treatments work, and why certain treatments work for some patients but not for others. Dr. Ken Weber is an Instructor in the Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University. He obtained his Doctor of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic Florida in 2009 and then completed a PhD in neuroscience at Northwestern University in 2016, specializing in movement and rehabilitation science. Ken’s research intersects clinical pain research and advanced MRI techniques with an emphasis on brain, spinal cord, and musculoskeletal imaging. His research aims to better understand the neural and musculoskeletal changes underlying clinical pain conditions, the mechanisms of treatments, and predictors for recovery. Ken is currently supported by a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health. His previous funding has included the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the NCMIC Foundation, Inc.

I’d also like to point out that Ken was recently selected to be part of the CARL (Chiropractic Academy for Research Leadership) program

View Dr. Weber‘s research at researchgate.net.

Here are some of the papers we discuss in this episode.

1. Machine Learning for the Prediction of Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: A Post Hoc Pilot Study of 28 Participants.
  Hopkins BS, Weber KA 2nd, Kesavabhotla K, Paliwal M, Cantrell DR, Smith ZA.
  World Neurosurg. 2019 Jul;127:e436-e442. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2019.03.165. Epub 2019 Mar 25.
  PMID: 30922901 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
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2. Are Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologies Crucial to Our Understanding of Spinal Conditions?
  Crawford RJ, Fortin M, Weber KA 2nd, Smith A, Elliott JM.
  J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2019 May;49(5):320-329. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2019.8793. Epub 2019 Mar 26.
  PMID: 30913967 [PubMed – in process]
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3. Lateral Corticospinal Tract Damage Correlates With Motor Output in Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury.
  Smith AC, Weber KA 2nd, O’Dell DR, Parrish TB, Wasielewski M, Elliott JM.
  Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2018 Apr;99(4):660-666. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2017.10.002. Epub 2017 Oct 26.
  PMID: 29107041 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE] Free PMC Article
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4. Evidence for decreased Neurologic Pain Signature activation following thoracic spinal manipulation in healthy volunteers and participants with neck pain.
  Weber Ii KA, Wager TD, Mackey S, Elliott JM, Liu WC, Sparks CL.
  Neuroimage Clin. 2019;24:102042. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.102042. Epub 2019 Oct 18.
  PMID: 31670070 [PubMed – in process] Free PMC Article
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5. Deep Learning Convolutional Neural Networks for the Automatic Quantification of Muscle Fat Infiltration Following Whiplash Injury.
  Weber KA, Smith AC, Wasielewski M, Eghtesad K, Upadhyayula PA, Wintermark M, Hastie TJ, Parrish TB, Mackey S, Elliott JM.
  Sci Rep. 2019 May 28;9(1):7973. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44416-8.
  PMID: 31138878 [PubMed – in process] Free PMC Article
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