“Chiropractic health care
is a beneficial and effective treatment option that provides thousands of
Albertans with relief from pain and dysfunction.” said the Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors, on June 19, in
response to a call for limits to be placed on vertebral
adjustment of the neck.
This call followed allegations that one such adjustment caused paralysis in a patient in Alberta last September.
"In comparison with many other common health care interventions, chiropractic adjustment is one of the safest and
lowest risk options," said ACAC president, Dr. Clark Mills. "Side effects from chiropractic adjustment are typically minor
and resolve quickly."
"The call for a limit on adjustment of the neck is unfounded and based on anecdotal reports," said Dr. Mills.
"The body of published, peer-reviewed research internationally clearly supports the safety of this health care practice."
Recent research says the risk of VBA stroke after seeing a chiropractor is no different from the risk of VBA stroke
after seeing a medical doctor.
The most recent research into neck adjustment further supports the safety of chiropractic neck adjustments.
The results of a collaborative and multidisciplinary six-year study, by the Bone and Joint Task Force on Neck Pain
and its Associated Disorders, into the causes, prognosis and treatment of neck pain were published
in the peer-reviewed medical journal Spine in January 2008.
The study concludes that Vertebral Basilar Artery (VBA)
stroke is a very rare event in the population and clearly states 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 medical doctor’s office.
The study also points out that this type of stroke commonly begins with neck pain, and/or headache, which
causes the patient to seek care from their chiropractor or family physician before the stroke fully develops.
Canadian study finds risk stroke from neck manipulations is less than that associated with many common
diagnostic tests or prescription drugs
In Canada, a study carried out by the Institute for Clinical
Evaluative Sciences (ICES) states, "The evidence to date
indicates that the risk associated with chiropractic manipulation of the neck is both small and inaccurately estimated.
The estimated level of risk is smaller than that associated with many commonly used diagnostic tests or prescription
drugs."
The study was published in 2001 in the medical journal Stroke.
British Study found no reports of serious adverse events
Similarly, a British study published in October 2007, also in the medical journal Spine, and involving more than
19,000 chiropractic patients who had over 50,000 cervical spine manipulations found "no reports of serious adverse
events."
In Alberta, over 800,000 people seek treatment from a Doctor of Chiropractic each year.
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