Efficacy of osteopathic manipulative treatment (93.6. ICD–9) - systematic review

Osteopathy is a medical system of diagnosis and treatment of a human being who is seen as an inseparable whole in terms of structure and function. However, there is a lack of coherence in the way osteopathic diagnosis and treatments are described in the literature. Medical databases including Medline, PubMed, PEDro, Osteopathic Research Web, and Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews were reviewed. The data collected were assessed for compliance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria using abstract analysis. In total, 30 articles were analysed in depth. To systematise the results, these publications were divided into the following categories: musculoskeletal disorders, gynaecology, paediatrics, neurology, and internal medicine (gastroenterology, pulmonology, immunology). A review of the literature indicates that osteopathic treatments and techniques are most commonly used in orthopaedics and traumatology of the musculoskeletal system. The physiological and biomechanical mechanisms of action of osteopathic treatments are not confirmed by basic research.