Research Digest

1. Treating Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Using Counterstrain: A Novel Approach

   Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a challenging disease to treat and requires a multidisciplinary and multimodal approach. We discuss the use of a novel approach to counterstrain using irritants – as identified by the patient – to induce symptoms of neuropathy and paresthesia and treat these symptoms as if they were counterstrain tender points. […]

2. An Osteopathic Modular Approach to Asthma: A Narrative Review

   Asthma is among of the first ailments documented in the existing academic literature as being successfully managed with osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) techniques. Time-efficient and well-tolerated OMT techniques have been gradually added to the literature to manage this increasingly prevalent disease. In this narrative review, the authors discuss previously-published literature describing the history, diagnosis, and […]

3. Cerebral tissue oxygenation during cranial osteopathic CV4 procedure in newborns

   The cranial osteopathic manipulative medicine has been shown to alter regional cerebral tissue oxygenation (cStO2) in adult patients; however, there are no reports regarding the neonatal population. The objective of this study is to assess the influence of compression of the 4th ventricle (CV4) osteopathic procedure on cStO2 in neonates … MORE

4. Osteopathic Manual Treatment for Pain Severity, Functional Improvement, and Return to Work in Patients With Chronic Pain

   Chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is associated with disability, poor quality of life (QOL), and failure to return to work (RTW). Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) or osteopathic manual therapy (OMTh) are increasingly offered to patients with CNCP; however, the existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses in the literature that explore the effectiveness of OMTh have major limitations. The […]

5. Health Sciences—Evidence Based Practice Questionnaire (HS-EBP): Normative Data and Differential Profiles in Spanish Osteopathic Professionals

   The main goal of this study was to obtain normative data of the scores of the Health-Sciences Evidence Based Practice (HS-EBP) questionnaire, and to analyse evidence-based practice (EBP) among potential clusters of osteopathy professionals in Spain. An online descriptive cross-sectional study has been applied. A total number of 443 Spanish practicing osteopaths answered a survey […]

6. Evidence-based assessment of potential therapeutic effects of adjunct osteopathic medicine for multidisciplinary care of acute and convalescent COVID-19 patients. Review article

   Although the COVID-19 pandemic affects predominantly the respiratory function, epidemiological studies show that multiple systems can be affected. The severe complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection seem to be induced by an inflammatory dysregulation (“cytokine storm”), which can also induce an immunodepression. Several studies highlight beneficial effects of osteopathic medicine on inflammation and immune regulation. A careful […]

7. Developing a psychologically-informed pain management course for use in osteopathic practice: The OsteoMAP cohort study

   Multidisciplinary healthcare programmes which include psychosocial interventions for persistent musculoskeletal pain demonstrate better patient outcomes than separate physical therapies. This paper reports outcomes from the OsteoMAP study, which combined psychological and mindfulness-informed interventions from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with manual treatment to create a multimodal pain self-management course for delivery by osteopaths working with […]

8. What Makes an Osteopathic Treatment Effective From a Patient’s Perspective: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study

   This study aimed to describe patients’ perspectives on their experience in osteopathic treatment, to contribute toward developing interpretative models on effectiveness … ABSTRACT

9. Patient expectations of manual and non-manual therapy within an osteopathic consultation: A cross sectional study

   Patient expectations of an osteopathic consultation can influence their evaluation of the effectiveness of osteopathic management. Throughout an osteopathic consultation practitioners’ may use manual therapy (MT) and/or non-manual therapy (NMT). Currently, little is known regarding patient’s expectations and preferences of osteopathic management. The aim of this study was to identify patients’ expectations of their management […]

10. Mechanical stimulation of human dermal fibroblasts regulates pro-inflammatory cytokines: potential insight into soft tissue manual therapies

    Soft tissue manual therapies are commonly utilized by osteopathic physicians, chiropractors, physical therapists and massage therapists. These techniques are predicated on subjecting tissues to biophysical mechanical stimulation but the cellular and molecular mechanism(s) mediating these effects are poorly understood. Previous studies established an in vitro model system for examining mechanical stimulation of dermal fibroblasts and […]