The use of osteopathic manipulative treatment in the newborn nursery and its effect on health in the first six months of life: A retrospective observational case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Limitations of traditional medicine and rising interest in complementary medicine call for a closer look at the potential relevance of manual medicine, specifically osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) in children. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a retrospective observational pilot study of babies who received OMT in the newborn nursery compared to those who did not, by quantifying their outpatient health issues in the first 6 months of life, and to determine the feasibility of further definitive randomized controlled trials of a similar nature. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review of the first 6 months of life from pediatric clinic records of 58 case-matched pairs of children, half of whom received OMT as part of their routine newborn care by virtue of their physician "call" assignment to the author. The sample from which the case-matched control group was chosen were babies who had received routine allopathic newborn care without OMT. Both groups received their pediatric care in the same academic ambulatory clinic and received no further OMT. METHODS: Outpatient paper chart review consisted of tabulation by points of the following variables: mention of spitting/vomiting, gassiness, food intolerance, irritability/sleeplessness, colic suggested or diagnosed, episodes of otitis media, frequency of antibiotics given, frequency of upper respiratory infections, frequency of lower respiratory problems, diarrhea, and rashes, separated by month of visit in which the variable was reported. RESULTS: Exploratory analysis by Pearson Chi-square yielded a few statistically significant differences between the 2 groups, in favor of the OMT-treated group, including Month 2 food intolerance (Χ21 = 4.14, P = .04), Month 3 colic suggested (Χ21 = 4.14, P = .04), Month 5 spitting/vomiting (Χ21 = 8.59, P = .003), and Month 5 antibiotic usage (Χ21 = 6.33, P = .012). CONCLUSIONS: Findings point to the need for further research in this area based on the suggestion that OMT given to a newborn can positively affect that baby's short-term and quite possibly long-term health, specifically related to GI complaints and irritability. Other studies would benefit from a variety of methodologic changes, including correlation of timing of administration of OMT with possible symptoms and changes in those symptoms over longer periods of observation, as well as correlation of anatomic osteopathic findings with specific symptoms.

Osteopathic manipulative treatment in a general pediatric setting: An account of reflective practice.

Herein is a description of the experience of the author, who is an MD, who was trained in performing osteopathic manipulation after practicing general allopathic pediatric medicine for 8 years. In the ensuing 28 years, her experience using it liberally for a wide variety of conditions convinced her that early use of OMT in children could reverse or prevent any number of common pediatric maladies, in a non-invasive, and cost-effective manner.

The use of osteopathic manipulative treatment as adjuvant therapy in children with recurrent acute otitis media.

OBJECTIVE: To study effects of osteopathic manipulative treatment as an adjuvant therapy to routine pediatric care in children with recurrent acute otitis media (AOM). STUDY DESIGN: Patients 6 months to 6 years old with 3 episodes of AOM in the previous 6 months, or 4 in the previous year, who were not already surgical candidates were placed randomly into 2 groups: one receiving routine pediatric care, the other receiving routine care plus osteopathic manipulative treatment. Both groups received an equal number of study encounters to monitor behavior and obtain tympanograms. Clinical status was monitored with review of pediatric records. The pediatrician was blinded to patient group and study outcomes, and the osteopathic physician was blinded to patient clinical course. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We monitored frequency of episodes of AOM, antibiotic use, surgical interventions, various behaviors, and tympanometric and audiometric performance. RESULTS: A total of 57 patients, 25 intervention patients and 32 control patients, met criteria and completed the study. Adjusting for the baseline frequency before study entry, intervention patients had fewer episodes of AOM (mean group difference per month, -0.14 [95% confidence interval, -0.27 to 0.00]; P =.04), fewer surgical procedures (intervention patients, 1; control patients, 8; P =.03), and more mean surgery-free months (intervention patients, 6.00; control patients, 5.25; P =.01). Baseline and final tympanograms obtained by the audiologist showed an increased frequency of more normal tympanogram types in the intervention group, with an adjusted mean group difference of 0.55 (95% confidence interval, 0.08 to 1.02; P =.02). No adverse reactions were reported. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest a potential benefit of osteopathic manipulative treatment as adjuvant therapy in children with recurrent AOM; it may prevent or decrease surgical intervention or antibiotic overuse.