Impact of OMT on reducing length of stay in a population of preterm infants.

1. Impact of OMT on reducing length of stay in a population of preterm infants. Francesco Cerritelli MS DO European Institute for Evidence Based Osteopathic Medicine (EBOM) AIOT Research Institute Pescara, Italy francesco.cerritelli@ebom.it 8th International Conference on Advance in Osteopathic Research. Milan, Italy. May 29, 2010

2. Introduction Length of stay (LOS) • LOS associated to high cost for hospital Mistry H, Dowie R, Franklin RC, Jani BR. Costs of neonatal care for low-birthweight babies in English hospitals. Acta Paediatr. 2009 Jul;98(7):1123-9. Epub 2009 Apr 30. 2

3. Introduction LOS and physiological functions • Direct relation between LOS and infant functional status Bakewell-Sachs S, Medoff-Cooper B, Escobar GJ, Silber JH, Lorch SA. Infant functional status: the timing of physiologic maturation of premature infants. Pediatrics. 2009 May;123(5):e878-86. 3

4. Introduction OMT and newborns • Lack of osteopathic studies • CAM (i.e. massage) seems to be related to a decrease of LOS • No formal evidence to support Field T, Diego M, Hernandez-Reif M. Preterm infant massage therapy research: a review. Infant Behav Dev. 2010 Apr;33(2):115-24. Vickers A, Ohlsson A, Lacy JB, Horsley A. Massage for promoting growth and development of preterm and/or low birth-weight infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(2):CD000390. 4

5. Aim of the study • Evaluate the efficacy of OMT in reducing LOS and weight at birth in a population of preterm infants. 5

6. Materials & Methods Study design • Randomized control trial • Outcomes: • PRIMARY: pre-post mean difference in LOS • SECONDARY: pre-post mean difference in weight gain • Study period: 20 months • OMT 2/week 6

7. Materials & Methods Study population • out of 220 newborns, 101 were enrolled 7

8. Materials & Methods Exclusion criteria • gestational age <29, >37 weeks; • osteopathic treatment performed >14 days after birth; • newborn transferred to/from other hospital; • newborn from to HIV seropositive and/or drug addict mother; • newborn with genetic disorders, congenital abnormalities, cardiovascular abnormalities, neurological disorders, proven or suspected necrotizing enterocolitis with or without gastrointestinal perforation, proven or suspected abdominal obstruction, pre- and/or post- Surgery patients, pneumoperitoneum and/or atelectasis. 8

9. Materials & Methods Randomization 101 preterms 47 study group 54 control group 9

10. Materials & Methods Type of treatment 101 preterms 47 study group 54 control group Standard medical care Osteopathic evaluation OMT Standard medical care Osteopathic evaluation 10

11. Statistical analysis • Arithmetic means and SD for the general characteristics of study population; • Univariate statistical tests for all differences between study and control group; • Multivariate linear regression for OMT on outcomes 11

12. Results Baseline Numbers in table are mean±s.d.; p value from t test *n(%);p value from χ2 test 12

13. Results Multivariate Linear Regression 13

14. Results - LOS 14

15. Results - BW 15

16. Discussion • OMT and infants: possible role in several fields Hayden C, Mullinger B. A preliminary assessment of the impact of cranial osteopathy for the relief of infantile colic. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2006 May;12(2):83-90. Vandenplas Y, Denayer E, Vandenbossche T, et al. Osteopathy may decrease obstructive apnea in infants: a pilot study. Osteopath Med Prim Care. 2008 Jul 19;2:8. Philippi H, Faldum A, Schleupen A, et al. Infantile postural asymmetry and osteopathic treatment: a randomized therapeutic trial. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2006 Jan;48(1):5-9. 16

17. Discussion Question • OMT.......how does it work? 17

18. Discussion Evidences(Tissue-NES) Narendran V, Visscher MO, Abril I, Hendrix SW, Hoath SB. Biomarkers of epidermal innate immunity in premature and full-term infants. Pediatr Res. 2010 Apr;67(4):382-6. Meltzer KR, Standley PR. Modeled repetitive motion strain and indirect osteopathic manipulative techniques in regulation of human fibroblast proliferation and interleukin secretion. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2007 Dec;107(12):527-36.) Degenhardt BF, Darmani NA, Johnson JC, et al. Role of osteopathic manipulative treatment in altering pain biomarkers: a pilot study. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2007 Sep;107(9):387-400. 18

19. Discussion Evidence (ANS) Longin E, Gerstner T, Schaible T, Lenz T, König S. Maturation of the autonomic nervous system: differences in heart rate variability in premature vs. term infants. J Perinat Med. 2006;34(4):303-8. Henley CE, Ivins D, Mills M, Wen FK, Benjamin BA. Osteopathic manipulative treatment and its relationship to autonomic nervous system activity as demonstrated by heart rate variability: a repeated measures study. Osteopath Med Prim Care. 2008 Jun 5;2:7. 19

20. Limitations • No formal computation of power and sample size • Sample recruitment from only one NICU 20

21. Conclusion • The present study shows that OMT is independently associated to a statistical significant reduction in LOS in a population of pre-term infants. 21

22. Conclusion • Call for further studies based on multicentric study design 22

23. Thank you for your attention Francesco Cerritelli MS DO European Institute for Evidence Based Osteopathic Medicine (EBOM) AIOT Research Institute Pescara, Italy francesco.cerritelli@ebom.it