Chiropractic care for children: too much, too little or not enough?

Simon D French,Bruce F Walker,Stephen M Perle

doi:10.1186/1746-1340-18-17

Abstract

This editorial provides an overview of this Thematic Series of the journal titled Chiropractic Care for Children. In commissioning this series of articles we aimed to bring the busy clinician up to date with the current best evidence in key aspects of evaluation and management of chiropractic care for children. Individual articles address a chiropractic approach to the management of children, chiropractic care of musculoskeletal conditions in children and adolescents, chiropractic care of non-musculoskeletal conditions in children and adolescents, chiropractic care for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and possible adverse effects from chiropractic management of children. The final article by Charlotte Leboeuf-Yde and Lise Hestbæk is an overview of the current state of the evidence and future research opportunities for chiropractic care for children. We conclude this editorial discussing the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary research relevant to chiropractic care of children and the implications for chiropractic practice.

Highlights

Many chiropractors provide care to children and chiropractors treat a wide variety of paediatric health conditions [1]
The authors conclude that there is little research on which to base current practice, and that the chiropractic profession needs to improve this evidence base in the interest of what is best for the paediatric population who present to chiropractors in practice
Low back pain is common in children and adolescents [14], but high quality evidence for chiropractic management, and even more broadly for manual therapies, of musculoskeletal conditions in children is non-existent

Summary

Introduction

Many chiropractors provide care to children and chiropractors treat a wide variety of paediatric health conditions [1]. This is considered a controversial area of chiropractic management, both within [2,3] and outside of the profession [4,5]. The evidence-base for chiropractic care for children is scarce, some evidence is available to inform practice. In commissioning this thematic series for Chiropractic & Osteopathy, we have brought together key people in the field of chiropractic care for children to provide an up-to-date overview for clinicians and researchers interested in the role of chiropractic care for children

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion