Abstract

Osteopathic manipulative treatment results in sustained relief from spinal pain in older patients: A pilot crossover study

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment is commonly used to complement conventional treatment of back pain. The present study verified whether OMT, associated with training program, reduces spinal pain in older. A pilot randomized, double-blind crossover study was conducted at Sport Association of Milan, Italy. We recruited 19 subjects above 60 years old, with presence of SP for more than 3 weeks and with intensity score higher than 3 (NRS score). All patients underwent a multi-component group exercise program for older adults and were randomized in two groups: in the study group (SG) OMT was added, while the control group (CG) continued with the exercise only. After 6 weeks a crossover was applied to the 2 groups and OMT was added to CG, while SG continued with the exercise only. Self-reported measures: the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) was used at each time to evaluate treatment outcomes. At pre-crossover, SG had a significant improvement in pain perception (p<0.05), while CG had a not significate improvement in pain perception (p=0.33).At post-crossover, the SG remains relatively stable (p=0.37), while CG after OMT addition have a significant benefit on pain perception (p=0.001). At follow-up, pain improvement is sustained (p=0.32). OMT associated to exercise reduce spinal pain in older patients. Our study suggests that OMT associated to exercise leads to significant improvement on pain relief in patients with chronic SP in a short term and the exercise allows to maintain these improvements for several months

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