Status of manual medicine in the emergency ward of an orthopaedic university clinic

Abstract

The presented retrospective study turned out that manual medicine has a high status in the emergency ward of an orthopaedic university clinic. 20.6 % of all patients showed a hypomobility. The sacroiliac joint, the costovertebral joints and the cervical spine were most frequently affected. A recognizable dependance of the diagnostics and therapy was seen concerning the experience of the physician in manual techniques. In the case of educated manual therapist, the proportion of diagnosed blockings was significantly higher and the chosen therapy was much more differentiated. Consequently, the disease process might be shortened and unnecessary costs could be avoided, if the techniques of manual medicine would be effectively used. Therefore the training in manual medicine has to be advised especially in the early stage of the consultant education in order to optimize the patients' care.