Manual therapies may affect both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, but results across 12 systematic reviews were inconsistent due to methodological differences and uncertain clinical relevance.
Systematic Review (n=12)
Do manual therapy interventions elicit a specific autonomic effect in healthy or symptomatic individuals?
The magnitude and clinical relevance of specific autonomic effects elicited by manual therapies remain uncertain due to inconsistent evidence.
BACKGROUND: The impact of manual therapy interventions on the autonomic nervous system have been largely assessed, but with heterogeneous findings regarding the direction of these effects. We conducted an overview of systematic reviews to describe if there is a specific autonomic effect elicited by manual therapy interventions, its relation with the type of technique used and the body region where the intervention was applied. METHODS: We conducted an overview according to a publicly registered protocol. We searched the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, MEDLINE, EPISTEMONIKOS and SCOPUS, from their inception to march 2021. We included systematic reviews for which the primary aim of the intervention was to assess the autonomic effect elicited by a manual therapy intervention in either healthy or symptomatic individuals. Two authors independently applied the selection criteria, assessed risk of bias from the included reviews and extracted data. An established model of generalisation guided the data analysis and interpretation. RESULTS: We included 12 reviews (5 rated as low risk of bias according the ROBIS tool). The findings showed that manual therapies may have an effect on both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. However, the results from included reviews were inconsistent due to differences in their methodological rigour and how the effects were measured. The reviews with a lower risk of bias could not discriminate the effects depending on the body region to which the technique was applied. CONCLUSION: The magnitude of the specific autonomic effect elicited by manual therapies and its clinical relevance is uncertain. We point out some specific recommendations in order to improve the quality and relevance of future research in this field.
Roura et al. (Thu,) conducted a systematic review in Healthy or symptomatic individuals (n=12). Manual therapies was evaluated on Autonomic effect (sympathetic and parasympathetic systems). Manual therapies may affect both sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, but results across 12 systematic reviews were inconsistent due to methodological differences and uncertain clinical relevance.