The Effects of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment on Arrhythmias: A Double-blind Randomized Controlled Trial in Patients with Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices

This double-blind randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) on cardiac arrhythmias in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). Participants (n = 41) with CIEDs were randomly assigned to either the OMT group or the control group (light touch/sham) and received a one-time intervention. No significant change in arrhythmia burden was found in the 1 month following intervention (<i>P</i> = .14). Discrete heart rate (HR), HR variability (HRV), and activity data were obtained from CIEDs in 17 of 41 subjects 1, 3, 7, 14, and 30 days prior to and after intervention. No significant difference was observed. An additional short-term substudy was performed on 20 subjects at the time of the intervention (5 min prior to and after intervention), and HR, respiratory rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂), and 1-min short-term HRV were compared. This study did not demonstrate an effect of OMT on arrhythmias, HR, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and blood SpO₂. However, differences in OMT versus sham were observed for short-term HRV (<i>P</i> = .022) and a trend for long-term HRV. Importantly, there were no reported adverse effects with either intervention. OMT appears to be safe in cardiac patients.