The short-term effect of spinal manipulation in the treatment of infantile colic: A randomized controlled clinical trial with a blinded observer

The short-term effect of spinal manipulation in the treatment of infantile colic: A randomized controlled clinical trial with a blinded observer
Received 7 January 1999; received in revised form 2 February 1999
Jesper M.M. Wiberg, DCa, Jan Nordsteen, DCb, Niels Nilsson, DC, MD, Phdc
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT)

Abstract
Objective: To determine whether there is a short-term effect of spinal manipulation in the treatment of infantile colic. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Setting: A private chiropractic practice and the National Health Service's health visitor nurses in the uburb Ballerup (Copenhagen, Denmark). Subjects: Infants seen by the health visitor nurses, who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for infantile colic. Intervention: One group received spinal manipulation for 2 weeks, the other was treated with the drug dimethicone for 2 weeks. Outcome Measure: Changes in daily hours of crying as registered in a colic diary. Results: By trial days 4 to 7, hours of crying were reduced by 1 hour in the dimethicone group compared with 2.4 hours in the manipulation group (P = .04). On days 8 through 11, crying was reduced by 1 hour for the dimethicone group, whereas crying in the manipulation group was reduced by 2.7 hours (P = .004). From trial day 5 onward the manipulation group did significantly better that the dimethicone group. Conclusion: Spinal manipulation is effective in relieving infantile colic. (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1999;22:517Ò22)

Keywords: Infantile Colic, Chiropractic Manipulation
a Private practice of chiropractic

b Private practice of chiropractic

c Center for Biomechanics, Odense University, Odense, Denmark

☆ Submit reprint requests to: Jesper M. M. Wiberg, DC, Hold an vej 5, 2750 Ballerup, Denmark.

☆☆ Supported by the Danish Health Insurance Fund and the research committee of the Danish Chiropractors Association.

★ The preliminary results from this study have been presented in B?rgenstock at the continuing education course of the Association of Swiss Chiropractors, September 11Ò13, 1997.

PII: S0161-4754(99)70003-5

© 1999 JMPT. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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