Assessment of exercise-induced minor muscle lesions: the accuracy of Cyriax's diagnosis by selective tension paradigm.
The Cyriax selective tension assessment paradigm is commonly used by clinicians for the diagnosis of soft tissue lesions; however, studies have not demonstrated that it is a valid method. The purpose of this study was to examine the construct validity of the active motion, passive motion, resisted movement, and palpation components of the Cyriax selective tension diagnosis paradigm in subjects with an exercise-induced minor hamstring muscle lesion. Nine female subjects with a mean age of 23.6 years (SD = 4.7) and a mass of 57.3 kg (SD = 10.7) performed two sets of 20 maximal eccentric isokinetic knee flexor contractions designed to induce a minor muscle lesion of the hamstrings. Active range of motion, passive range of motion, knee extension end-feel pain relative to resistance sequence, knee flexor isometric strength, pain perception during knee flexor resisted movement testing, and palpation pain of the hamstrings were assessed at 0, 5, 2, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours postexercise and compared with Cyriax's hypothesized selective tension paradigm results. Consistent with Cyriax's paradigm, passive range of motion remained unchanged, and perceived pain of the hamstrings increased with resistance testing at 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours postexercise when compared with baseline. In addition, palpation pain of the hamstrings was significantly elevated at 48 and 72 hours after exercise (p < 0.05). In contrast of Cyriax's paradigm, active range of motion was significantly reduced over time (p < 0.05), with the least amount of motion compared to baseline (85%) occurring at 48 hours postexercise. Further, resisted movement testing found significant knee flexor isometric strength reductions over time (p < 0.05), with the greatest reductions (33%) occurring at 48 hours postexercise. According to Cyriax, when a minor muscle lesion is tested, it should be strong and painful; however, none of the postexercise time frames exhibited results that were strong and painful. This study suggests that the validity of using Cyriax's selective tension testing for the diagnosis of exercise-induced minor muscle lesions is questionable.