Objective To compare the cervical intervertebral movements produced by posteroanterior cervical mobilization and posteroanterior cervical mobilization combined with cervical traction by using the radiographic measurement.Methods The study recruited 12 normal volunteers (6 men,6 women),aged 18 to 25 years (22.9±4.7 years),heighted (164± 7)cm and weighed (54.7 ± 7.6)kg.All the subjects were administered with posteroanterior cervical mobilization followed by posteroanterior cervical mobilization while having cervical traction,or vice versa,with an interval of 2 days in between.The X-ray films were collected before and after the treatment,using 4 static cervical lateral views.The axial displacement of posterior and anterior intervertebral separation (IVS),and the shear displacement of vertebral body as well as the rotation and displacement rate of the motion segments in the sagittal plane before and after the treatment were measured on the radiographic images and compared.Results It was shown that the posteroanterior cervical mobilization produced greater C2-C7 rotation range of motion in the sagittal plane,as compared to that by the posteroanterior mobilization while having cervical traction (P ＜ 0.05).The posteroanterior mobilization produced a significantly greater increase of anterior IVS of the C5 segment and the summation of C2-C7 posterior IVS than those by posteroanterior mobilization while having cervical traction (P ＜ 0.05).However,the posterior IVS and the posterior zygapophysial joints separation of C2-C7 produced by the posteroanterior mobilization during traction were more prominent (P ＜ 0.05).There was no statistical difference between anteroposterior displacements of the vertebral body produced by the two interventions.Comparing with the baseline,the posteroanterior mobilization caused posterior movement of the vertebral bodies of C5 to C2,while the posteroanterior cervical mobilization during traction produced posterior movement of C5 to C2 vertebral bodies and anterior movement of C6 body.Conclusion The cervical posteroanterior mobilization significantly increased the lordosis from C3 to C7,and reduced posterior IVS and zygapophysial joints separation.However,the posteroanterior mobilization during traction changed the intervertebral movements.