Reflex cervical muscle spasm: treatment by diazepam, phenobarbital or placebo.

This double-blind study of the effects of diazepam on painful cervical muscle spasms compared with those of phenobarbital and an inert placebo employed clinical, electrogoniometric and electromyographic recording methods for evaluation and computer analysis. The clinical results were equivocal but the technological recordings revealed a statistically significant greater desirable effect of diazepam compared to the other 2 treatments which would be expected to have only minor nonspecific effects.