Objective : This review was conducted to determine the evidence of efficacy of Manual therapy for FMS.
Methods : We searched 10 electronic databases (CAJ(CNKI), CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Pubmed, Web of Science, DBpia, KISS, RISS, and OASIS) to find randomized-controlled clinical trials(RCTs) investigating Manual Therapy on FMS. Visual Analogue Scale(VAS) and score of Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire(FIQ) were mainly analyzed as a main evaluation criteria.
Results : Among 273 articles, 254 were screened and 19 RCTs were selected. Only 17 of RCTs could be statistically analyzed. Manual therapy was more effective than Placebo or Sham or no treatment in terms of VAS(p=0.0003). Also when combined with medication or exercises manual therapy showed therapeutic effect in terms of reducing pain(VAS) and ameliorating symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome(FIQ). However, manual therapy did not show its effect in terms of VAS compare to medication. Lastly, there were no significant difference between manual therapy and exercise in terms of improvements in VAS and FIQ.
Conclusion : Based on results, effectiveness of manual therapy including CMT for treating fibromyalgia syndrome was identified. However, this study has its limitations due to the size and number of RCTs that were included in this study were small. Nevertheless this study could be a groundwork for well designed research for CMT for fibromyalgia syndrome.