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Infantile postural asymmetry and osteopathic treatment: a randomized therapeutic trial
Author(s) -
Philippi Heike,
Faldum Andreas,
Schleupen Angela,
Pabst Bianka,
Jung Tatjana,
Bergmann Holger,
Bieber Imke,
Kaemmerer Christine,
Dijs Piet,
Reitter Bernd
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1017/s001216220600003x
Subject(s) - medicine , randomized controlled trial , physical therapy , gestational age , clinical trial , pediatrics , pregnancy , genetics , biology
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.