Spinal manipulation for infantile colic
Husereau D, Clifford T, Aker P, Leduc D, Mensinkai S
Record ID 32004000171
English, French
Authors' objectives:
To determine whether manipulating the spine, by itself, can reduce the signs and symptoms of infantile colic.
To assess the safety of spinal manipulation for this indication.
Authors' results and conclusions:
Four randomized controlled trials involving spinal manipulation performed by chiropractors met the inclusion criteria: two trials published in peer-reviewed journals, one conference abstract, and one unpublished manuscript. Quality scores for all four reports as measured by the Jadad scale were low. None of the trials provided information about adverse events.
Authors' recommendations:
This meta-analysis found no convincing evidence that spinal manipulation alone can affect the duration of infantile colic symptoms. The effect of spinal manipulation on sleep time, parental anxiety, quality of life and number of colic diagnoses could not be determined using available evidence. Potential harm from the spinal manipulation of infants with colic could not be determined because the presence or absence of adverse events was not described in any of the trial reports reviewed.
More rigorous research is needed to adequately measure the safety and efficacy of spinal manipulation for the treatment of infantile colic. Greater efforts must be made to compare infants of similar age. Issues to consider include placebo response rates as high as 83%, the self-limiting quality of colic symptoms, and the fact that colic plays itself out over several months .
Authors' methods:
Systematic review
Details
Project Status:
Completed
URL for project:
https://www.ccohta.ca/
Year Published:
2003
English language abstract:
An English language summary is available
Publication Type:
Not Assigned
Country:
Canada
MeSH Terms
- Complementary Therapies
- Infant
- Manipulation, Spinal
- Colic
Contact
Organisation Name:
Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment
Contact Address:
600-865 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1S 5S8 Canada. Tel: +1 613 226 2553, Fax: +1 613 226 5392;
Contact Name:
requests@cadth.ca
Contact Email:
requests@cadth.ca
Copyright:
Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA)
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.