Purpose: Prematurity carries with it an increased risk of developmental delays, infections, language development disorders and delays, visual and visuocognitive development disorders and mental health issues later in life. The purpose of this case report is to add to the possible avenues of treatment to gain better outcomes for this population.
Method: A thorough literature search of MANTIS, BioMed Central, PubMed, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealed that there was not one published case on the use of chiropractic in the treatment of prematurity.
Case: In this case, the child was born at 26.6 weeks--after 14 weeks of antepartum hemorrhage (APH) and so was at the end of the spectrum for viability. He spent 58 days in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a further 44 days in special care nursery (SCN) until he was released to go home.
Intervention: The patient was treated chiropractically with low force techniques utilizing sacro-occipital cranial techniques and neurological stimulation to improve proprioceptive input the cerebellum and to decrease the level of deformational plagiocephaly.
Outcomes: Treatment was continuous throughout the first two years of life, beginning weekly and then every two weeks for regular checkups. His most recent assessment through the Southern Health Growth and Development Clinic showed that he is achieving at least within the normal range for his age and frequently above average across the different scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 3rd edition.
Conclusion: The patient responded favorably to the regular chiropractic management of sacro-occipital technique and neurological stimulation exercises. He is now outperforming many of his non-age-corrected peers. It is the hypothesis of the author that the maintenance of normal joint function and movement--including the cranial sutures--globally enhanced the outcomes of this child and could be a source of improved outcomes for this demographic in the future.
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