The effect of osteopathic treatment on the irritable bowel syndrome: a case series

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common gastrointestinal (GI) disorder seen by healthcare professionals, yet, effective treatment is lacking. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of osteopathic treatment on IBS. Two IBS patients were recruited and received osteopathic treatment over four consecutive weeks at Victoria University Osteopathic Medicine Clinic. The patients were assessed by the Bowel Symptom Scale (BSS) at the pre, mid and post treatment points. Subjects showed varied results throughout the study, however by the end of the study both patients showed a decrease in their overall severity of symptoms. Improvements did occur in the patients' individual presenting symptoms, where abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhoea were all reduced. The preliminary data of two patients indicates that osteopathic treatment may help. However, the results are inconclusive due to an insufficient patient population and inadequate study design. This highlights the need for further research of a larger scale, longer-term , randomised, controlled study. This minor thesis was written by a post-graduate student as part of the requirements of the Master of Health Science (Osteopathy) program