Pilot study of patient response to multiple impulse therapy for musculoskeletal complaints.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate patient response to multiple impulse therapy provided by the PulStarFRAS (Sense Technology, Inc, Murrysville, Pa) for a variety of musculoskeletal symptoms encountered in clinical practice. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patient files was used to determine symptomatic improvement over the course of treatment. The multiple impulse therapy was supplemented, at the discretion of the practitioner, with manual adjustments. The manual adjustments consisted of high-velocity low-amplitude and drop table, and represented fewer than 5% of the adjustments. Therapy was provided by a single practitioner in a private clinic setting. RESULTS: Patients expressed improvement in symptoms after the first visit (average improvement in subjective pain rating scale of 41%). Patient symptoms improved between the first and second visits for 70% of patients (average improvement in subjective pain scale for all patients was 58%). The majority of patients achieved complete resolution of symptoms between the third and fourth visits. Maximum benefit for patients across all symptoms required an average of 4.2 visits. The half-life for response to multiple impulse therapy for all symptoms was 17 to 26 days. The half-life for response to multiple impulse therapy using the PulStarFRAS for low back pain was 9 to 16 days. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest the further study of multiple impulse therapy provided by the PulStarFRAS as a means of resolving musculoskeletal complaints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]