Definition And Clinical Practice Of Manual Therapy In Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: A Scoping Review Protocol

IntroductionManual therapy has been a topic of growing interest and debate within the musculoskeletal field, particularly concerning its definition, mechanisms, and implementation in clinical trials. It has also emerged as a rehabilitative intervention for spasticity, often used in combination with pharmacological treatments, particularly in stroke populations. However, individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), who commonly experience spasticity, have received less attention in this context, despite the significant impact of spasticity on their independence and quality of life. ObjectiveThis scoping review aims to explore how manual therapy is defined and implemented in the treatment of spasticity among adults with traumatic SCI. Specifically, it seeks to identify which interventions are labelled "manual therapy", how spasticity and outcomes are defined, and whether patient-centered goal setting is incorporated. It also evaluates the quality of intervention reporting using the TIDieR checklist and investigates the feasibility of conducting a future systematic review. MethodsThe review will follow JBI methodology and be reported according to the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Studies in English including adults with traumatic SCI and spasticity will be selected from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Independent reviewers will perform screening and data extraction, with a descriptive synthesis of the findings.