Fibre types of human suboccipital muscles

Abstract

Understanding the functional role of the cervical muscles is important for the effective diagnosis and treatment of cervical disorders. The suboccipital muscles are targets for treatment in whiplash and chronic headache, although their function remains unclear. There are no data on suboccipital muscle fiber type composition to facilitate an understanding of their function. Suboccipital muscles (n=95; rectus capitis posterior major, rectus capitis posterior minor, obliquus capitis superior, obliquus capitis inferior) were dissected bilaterally from 12 cadavers (6 male; mean age 81 years). Immunohistochemistry was used to identify type I/II muscle fibers. Fibers were counted using stereology (random systematic sampling) and data analyzed (descriptive statistics, ANOVA, paired and independent t-tests) to examine differences between muscles, sex and laterality (