July 10, 2008 — The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) announced it has mailed copies of a report issued by the Task Force on Neck Pain and its Associated Disorders to more than 16,600 neurologists across the country. The seven-year, international, multidisciplinary study was published in the journal Spine and is designed to help health professionals apply the best available evidence to prevent, diagnose, and manage neck pain.
In the cover letter accompanying the study, ACA President Glenn Manceaux, DC, noted that ACA encourages evidence-based clinical practice and interprofessional cooperation in patient care. “There is growth in the referral of patients between chiropractors and neurologists and therefore, it is important that all practitioners be on the same page regarding the most current research in treating this pervasive condition,” Dr. Manceaux said.
The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and its Associated Disorders considered almost 32,000 citations and performed critical appraisals of more than 1,000 studies in developing its 236-page report.
In addition to its comprehensive review of the existing body of research on neck pain, the Task Force also initiated a new population-based, case-control and case-crossover study into the association between chiropractic care and vertebrobasilar artery (VBA) stroke. This Canadian study investigated associations between chiropractic visits and vertebrobasilar artery stroke and compared this with visits to primary care physicians and the occurrence of VBA stroke.
The study — which analyzed a total of 818 cases of VBA stroke admitted to Ontario hospitals over a nine-year period (more than 100 million patient-years of observation) — concluded that VBA stroke is a very rare event and that the risk of VBA stroke associated with a visit to a chiropractor’s office appears to be no different from the risk of VBA stroke following a visit to a family physician’s office.
Source: American Chiropractic Association, www.amerchiro.org
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