Spinal manipulation by chiropractors no better than sham manipulation: Study

Spinal manipulation by chiropractors no better than sham manipulation: Study

DEVON, England - A review of 26 studies conducted between 2000 and 2005 by researchers at Peninsula Medical School in Devon has found that the procedure of spinal manipulation, which is widely used by chiropractors and osteopaths to treat back pain is of little or no use for the same.

Reporting in the latest issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the researchers say that the data with them gave "little evidence" of being effective in healing back pain. Besides back and neck pain, spinal manipulation is reportedly beneficial in period pain, colic, asthma, allergy and dizziness. But researchers say that they examined studies that looked as the supposed benefits, but found nothing to indicate its effectiveness.

"There is little evidence that spinal manipulation is effective in the treatment of any medical condition. The findings are of concern because chiropractors and osteopaths are regulated by statute in the UK," said lead researcher Professor Edzard Ernst. "Patients and the public at large perceive regulation as proof of the usefulness of treatment. Yet the findings presented here show a gap and contradiction between the effectiveness of intervention and the evidence." After analyzing all the studies, researchers concluded that spinal manipulation was only effective in back pain, but even here it was not better than the conventional treatments.

The report said that spinal manipulation has brought about temporary stiffness in patients as well as strokes if the vertebral artery is damaged, Hence, they recommend that it should not be the treatment of choice in back pain. "One way forward is more rigorous clinical trials to test the efficacy of spinal manipulation," Professor Ernst said. "After all, the treatment is not without risk and chiropractors must demonstrate why it should be a recommendable medical treatment option." He added that the review was a wake-up call to the chiropractic profession. However the British Chiropractic Association said the study was based on negative research, "The usefulness of manipulation is that it can be added, substituted or modified as part of a package of care that provides management, pain control, advice and recognizes risks to a good recovery," it said in a statement. "Recent clinical trials funded by the Medical Research Council show that manipulation is effective and cost-effective within such a package for back pain."