Osteopathic Manual Therapy for Infant Colic: A Randomised Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background: Infant colic is a multifactorial syndrome for which various therapeutic strategies have been proposed. In this study, we evaluate the effectiveness of osteopathic manual therapy in treating symptoms related to infant colic. Method: A prospective, randomised, blinded clinical trial was conducted of patients diagnosed with infant colic. The treatment group were given osteopathic manual therapy, and their parents received two sessions of counselling. The control group received no such therapy, but their parents attended the same counselling sessions. The non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test was applied to determine whether there were significant differences between the groups for the numerical variables considered. For the qualitative variables, Fisher’s exact test was used. The threshold assumed for statistical significance was 0.05. Results: A total of 42 babies were assigned to each group. Those in the experimental group presented less severe infant colic with a trend towards statistical significance after the first session (p = 0.09). In sucking, excretion, eructation and gas there were no significant differences between the groups. Crying was a statistically significant dimension both after the first intervention (p = 0.03) and two weeks after (p = 0.04). Regurgitation values were significantly lower in the experimental group during the three weeks of follow-up (p = 0.05). Values for sleep were lower in the experimental group, but the differences were not statistically significant. In both groups, colic severity decreased over time, with no side effects. Conclusions: Treatment with osteopathic manual therapy alleviates the symptoms of infant colic and could be recommended for this purpose from the onset of the condition.