Infantile Colic

• Infantile colic treated by chiropractors: a prospective study of 316 cases.
  Klougart N, Nilsson N, Jacobsen J. Anglo-European College of Chiropractic, Bournemouth, England.
  J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1989 Aug;12(4):281-8
  
  A prospective, uncontrolled study of 316 infants suffering from infantile colic and selected according to well-defined criteria shows a satisfactory result of spinal manipulative therapy in 94% of the cases. The median age of the infants was 5.7 wk at the beginning of the treatment. The results were evaluated by analysis of a diary continuously kept by the mother and an assessment file comprised by interview. The study was carried out as a multicenter study lasting 3 months and involving 73 chiropractors in 50 clinics. The results occurred within 2 wk and after an average of three treatments.
  
  
• The short-term effect of spinal manipulation in the treatment of infantile colic: a randomized controlled clinical trial with a blinded observer.
  Wiberg JM, Nordsteen J, Nilsson N. Center for Biomechanics, Odense University, Denmark.
  J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1999 Oct;22(8):517-22
  
  OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is a short-term effect of spinal manipulation in the treatment of infantile colic. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial. SETTING: A private chiropractic practice and the National Health Service's health visitor nurses in the suburb Ballerup (Copenhagen, Denmark). SUBJECTS: Infants seen by the health visitor nurses, who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for infantile colic. INTERVENTION: One group received spinal manipulation for 2 weeks, the other was treated with the drug dimethicone for 2 weeks. OUTCOME MEASURE: Changes in daily hours of crying as registered in a colic diary. RESULTS: By trial days 4 to 7, hours of crying were reduced by 1 hour in the dimethicone group compared with 2.4 hours in the manipulation group (P = .04). On days 8 through 11, crying was reduced by 1 hour for the dimethicone group, whereas crying in the manipulation group was reduced by 2.7 hours (P = .004). From trial day 5 onward the manipulation group did significantly better that the dimethicone group. CONCLUSION: Spinal manipulation is effective in relieving infantile colic.