Acute and Time-Course Effects of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment on Vascular and Autonomic Function in Patients With Heart Failure: A Randomized Trial.

Objective: The purposed of this study was to valuate the effect of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) on flow-mediated dilation and heart rate variability of patients with heart failure.

Background: Osteopathic manipulative treatment modulates both the vascular and autonomic nervous system (ANS) in healthy volunteers. However, the acute and time-course effects of the OMT on patients with an overactive ANS remain unclear.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial study included 20 patients with heart failure aged 50 to 60 years, allocated to a single session of OMT (base of the skull, retromaxillary region, heart, and thoracic duct) or sham. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) at the brachial artery, hemodynamic measures, and heart rate variability were assessed in 3 periods (baseline, immediately after the intervention, and after 15 minutes). Multivariate analysis of variance procedure was used to compare intervention and periods.

Results: The OMT group had a greater FMD modulation compared with the sham (FMD,% =  9.5 vs. -5.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): [6.6, -12.35] vs. [-14.25, 2.8]; p = 0.001) and grater peak diameter (PD, mm =  0.77 vs -0.16 mm, 95% CI: [0.31,-1.24] vs [-0.63, 0.29]; P =  0.001), suggesting an important acute and time-course vascular effect from OMT. We also found some relevant heart rate variability modulation after 15 minutes from OMT: high frequency (HF, ms = 295 vs -354, 95% CI: [144.2, -769]; P = .001) and low frequency (LF, ms) = 670 vs 775, 95% CI: [-98, 3591]; P = .001), suggesting a time-course ANS modulation after OMT.

Conclusions: Osteopathic manipulative treatment was effective at increasing brachial blood flow and stimulating the vagal system in patients with heart failure. Moreover, vascular changes seem to precede the autonomic modulation.