Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 2011/11, 17(4):193-198. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2011.02.001, type of study: ,ct,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Free full text   (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S174438811100020X)

Keywords:

anthropometrics [1]
cranial asymmetry [5]
deformational plagiocephaly [1]
osteopathic manipulative treatment [3945]
nonsynostotic plagiocephaly [1]
clinical trial [674]

Abstract:

OBJECTIVES: To document the evolution of cranial asymmetries in infants with signs of nonsynostotic occipital plagiocephaly (NSOP) who were to undergo a course of four osteopathic treatments (in addition to the standard positioning recommendations) as well as to determine the feasibility of using this methodology to conduct a randomized clinical trial investigating the impact of osteopathic intervention for infants with NSOP. DESIGN: Pilot clinical standardization project using pre-post design in which 12 infants participated. Ten infants presented an initial Oblique Diameter Difference Index (ODDI) over 104% and five of them had an initial moderate to severe Cranial Vault Asymmetry (CVA) (over 12mm). INTERVENTIONS: Infants received four osteopathic treatments at 2-week intervals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Anthropometric, plagiocephalometric as well as qualitative measures were administered pre-intervention (T1), during the third treatment (T2) and two weeks after the fourth treatment (T3). RESULTS: Participants showed a significant decrease in CVA (p=0.02), Skull Base Asymmetry (SBA) (p=0.01), Trans-Cranial Vault Asymmetry (TCVA) (p<0.003) between the first and third evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: These clinical findings support the hypothesis that osteopathic treatments contribute to the improvement of cranial asymmetries in infants younger than 6.5 months old presenting with NSOP characteristics.