Articles

The use of Computerised Tomography (CT) scans is a vital diagnostic tool used by many medical practitioners.

According to international radiological guidelines being drawn up, MRIs are more useful in spinal and neurological imaging.  Furthermore, people under the age of 35 years (reproductive/growing years) should not be referred for CT where other options are available because the radiation delivered by a chest CT is 100 times that delivered by a chest x-ray.

The need for CT was examined in an internationsl survey of 150,000 patients.  It revealed 77 per cent of lumbar spine scans, 36 per cent of head scans and 37 per cent of abdominal scans of people under 3 years old were not just justified.

Source:  The Weekend Australian; June 2010.

The results of a trial to evaluate the effects of osteopathic treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were recently covered in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

"Osteopathic therapy is a promising alternative in the treatment of patients with IBS," states the article.  "Patients treated with osteopathy overall did better, with respect to symptom score and quality of life (QOL)."

A study of patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) indicates that the temporomandibular joint (jaw) influences the range of motion of the hip joint.

The study evaluated if patients with CRPS would have an increase in range of motion (ROM) after myofascial release and a similar ROM decrease after jaw clenching, whereas in healthy subjects these effects would be minimal or nonexistent.

The results suggest that temporomandibular joint dysfunction plays an important role in the restriction of hip motion experienced by patients with CRPS, establishing a link between these two regions of the body.

In the UK, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has released new guidelines on the treatment of back pain, Steven Vogel, British School of Osteopathy Vice Principle, was one of the members of the NICE Guideline Development Group.

The Guidelines recommend a national approach to back pain based on treatments that have been shown to be effective, including osteopathy.  They also endore the effectiveness of manipulation, exercise and acupuncture as mainstream practice for the management of back pain.