Infantile postural asymmetry and osteopathic treatment: a randomized therapeutic trial.
The aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy of osteopathic treatment in infants with postural asymmetry. A randomized clinical trial of efficacy with blinded videoscoring was performed. Sixty-one infants with postural asymmetry aged 6 to 12 weeks (mean 9wks) were recruited. Thirty-two infants (18 males, 14 females) with a gestational age of at least 36 weeks were found to be eligible and randomly assigned to the intervention groups, 16 receiving osteopathic treatment and 16 sham therapy. After a treatment period of 4 weeks the outcome was measured using a standardized scale (4-24 points). With sham therapy, five infants improved (at least 3 points), eight infants were unchanged (within 3 points), and three infants deteriorated (not more than -3 points); the mean improvement was 1.2 points (SD 3.5). In the osteopathic group, 13 infants improved and three remained unchanged; the mean improvement was 5.9 points (SD 3.8). The difference was significant (p=0.001). We conclude that osteopathic treatment in the first months of life improves the degree of asymmetry in infants with postural asymmetry.
Philippi
Heike
H
Department of Paediatric Neurology, University Children's Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany. Heike.Philippi@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Faldum
Andreas
A
Schleupen
Angela
A
Pabst
Bianka
B
Jung
Tatjana
T
Bergmann
Holger
H
Bieber
Imke
I
Kaemmerer
Christine
C
Dijs
Piet
P
Reitter
Bernd
B
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D026301:Manipulation, Osteopathic / Q000379:methods*; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000628:therapy*; D011187:Posture; D016896:Treatment Outcome