Virchow's Triad and spinal manipulative therapy of the cervical spine

The objective of this review paper is to borrow Virchow's Triad as a conceptual framework to examine the state of the art in research on thrombosis, specifically in the vertebrobasilar system as a consequence of high velocity, low amplitude spinal manipulation of the cervical spine. A revised Virchow's Triad is presented which emphasizes the interactions between various risk factors, as a tool for clinicians and researchers to use in their analyses of vertebrobasilar stroke. Endothelial injury, abnormal blood flow and hypercoagulability are discussed.