Safety of Osteopathic Cranial Manipulative Medicine as an Adjunct to Conventional Postconcussion Symptom Management: A Pilot Study

Osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine is not a well-established adjunct to conventional treatment for patients with postconcussion symptoms. To determine whether adjunctive osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine is safe for patients with concussion when accompanied by conventional treatments. Prospective observational pilot study. Outpatient concussion clinic. Patients who sustained a concussion were prospectively recruited from an outpatient concussion clinic by a neuropsychologist specialized in concussion. All participants were identified to have a cranial dysfunction. Each eligible participant received 1 session of the osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine vault hold technique. Self-reported adverse events during or after 1 session of the osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine procedure and improvement in concussion symptoms at return to follow-up. None of the 9 participants reported adverse events during or immediately after receiving osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine. Five of the 7 participants who returned for follow-up demonstrated improvement in their overall concussion symptoms based on the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale scores. Osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine was considered a safe adjunctive treatment option to improve concussion-related symptoms and recovery.