ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To localize the facet joints that give rise to the cracking sounds caused by cervical rotatory and local manipulation.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Cervical rotatory and local manipulation was performed in 30 healthy adults at the spinous process at the C(4 )level once on each of the left and right side, and a set of equipment we designed for acoustic signal acquisition was applied to collect and locate the cracking sounds, followed by statistical analysis of the data collected.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The cracking sounds caused by cervical rotatory and local manipulation were localized mainly at C(3-7) facet joints, and the times of cracking sounds at these facet joints had significant differences from those at the other facet joints.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The location of cervical rotatory and local manipulation can be only relative, and definite localization seems impossible.</p>