Spinal manipulation reviewed

Bandolier loves systematic reviews of systematic reviews, because they can give us the quick answer about an intervention. One on spinal manipulation [1] looked for all the systematic reviews published between 2000 and mid 2005, for any indication.

Sixteen were found, on back pain, neck pain, lower back pain, headache, non-spinal pain, dysmenorrhoea, infantile colic, asthma, allergy, cervicogenic dizziness, and any medical problem. Individually and collectively, there was no evidence that spinal manipulation was an effective intervention for any condition. There may be adverse events, though, and the review gives useful references for common and rare adverse events. Useful for a journal club.

Reference:

1 E Ernst, PH Canter. A systematic review of systematic reviews of spinal manipulation. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 2006 99: 192-196.