A multicenter, randomized, controlled trial of osteopathic manipulative treatment on preterms.

Background: Despite some preliminary evidence, it is still largely unknown whether osteopathic manipulative treatment improves preterm clinical outcomes.

Materials And Methods: The present multi-center randomized single blind parallel group clinical trial enrolled newborns who met the criteria for gestational age between 29 and 37 weeks, without any congenital complication from 3 different public neonatal intensive care units. Preterm infants were randomly assigned to usual prenatal care (control group) or osteopathic manipulative treatment (study group).

Osteopathic manipulative treatment and pain in preterms: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Recent evidence proved the necessity to improve health care and pain management in newborns. Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) has been largely used to treat painful syndromes as well as term and preterm newborns. Recent studies have demonstrated positive results of osteopathy in reducing length of stay and costs.

Osteopathic evaluation of somatic dysfunction and craniosacral strain pattern among preterm and term newborns.

Context: Palpatory skills are a central part of osteopathic manipulative treatment and palpatory diagnosis. The aim of osteopathic structural examination is to locate somatic dysfunction and cranial strain pattern, which are the hallmarks that form the basis for treatment decisions and strategy. In the osteopathic literature, there is a lack of studies evaluating preterm or term newborns during hospitalization.

Effect of osteopathic manipulative treatment on gastrointestinal function and length of stay of preterm infants: an exploratory study.

Background: Organizational improvement of neonatal intensive care units requires strict monitoring of preterm infants, including routine assessment of physiological functions of the gastrointestinal system and optimized procedures for the definition of appropriate discharge timing.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study on the effect of osteopathic manipulative treatment in a cohort of N = 350 consecutive premature infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit without any major complication between 2005 and 2008. In addition to ordinary care, N = 162 subjects received osteopathic treatment.