Objective: The purpose of this paper was to collect and review articles to determine the effectiveness of manual therapy for the treatment of cerebral palsy. This exploration of such a diverse topic would help to synthesize the body of evidence available to practitioners of
manual therapy-based disciplines.
Methods: A systematic search was performed to identify literature related to manual therapy and cerebral palsy symptoms. For potential inclusion, articles must have been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Database access was provided by Palmer College of Chiropractic and
included: Index to Chiropractic Literature, Alt Health watch, MEDLINE Complete, CINAHL Complete, Academic search primer, Information Science and Technology Abstracts, EBSCO host, Dynamed, and PubMed.
Results: The current level of evidence in the literature, while overall positive, is limited and inconclusive due to complications of small study sample size, mixed results across techniques, and multiple trials consisting of mainly pilot studies. The findings of this review are consistent with reviews that had evaluated portions of the investigated topic.
Conclusion: While the studies in this review outline the prospective benefits of manual therapy on visceral function and management of spasticity, the results were complicated by study limitations. Further inquiry into the effectiveness of manual therapy techniques including joint manipulation, tissue mobilization, and diaphragmatic stretching techniques should be conducted in larger studies to determine the replicability of the observed
optimistic therapy effects.
Author keywords: cerebral palsy, spasticity, manual therapy, manipulation, visceral function
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