Breaking Update: Here’s a clear explanation of the latest developments related to Breaking News:Osteopathic Tx May Improve Lung Function in Asthma Patients– What Just Happened and why it matters right now.
A systematic review suggests that osteopathic manipulative treatment may help address respiratory mechanical dysfunctions and improve objective pulmonary outcomes in asthma care.
By Valery Butto
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Potential Adjunctive Therapy: A systematic review found that osteopathic manipulative treatment may improve pulmonary function outcomes, including peak expiratory flow and forced expiratory volume, in patients with asthma.
- Addressing Mechanical Dysfunction: The findings suggest that these manual techniques could help address musculoskeletal and respiratory mechanical issues associated with obstructive airway disease.
- Need for Further Research: Investigators noted that current evidence is limited by small sample sizes and study heterogeneity, requiring larger randomized controlled trials to confirm the definitive role of the treatment in asthma care.
Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) may lead to improvements in pulmonary function for patients with asthma, according to a systematic review published in Cureus. While the results suggest OMT could be a valuable adjunctive approach for addressing mechanical dysfunctions, investigators noted that current evidence remains limited and inconsistent.
The researchers evaluated whether OMT, compared with sham treatment or usual healthcare, improved objective outcomes. The primary measures assessed included peak expiratory flow, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and forced vital capacity (FVC). Investigators conducted a search across MEDLINE/PubMed, Google Scholar, the Cochrane Library, and Semantic Scholar, identifying five clinical studies that met the inclusion criteria for qualitative synthesis.
Across the included studies, some reported improvements in pulmonary function following OMT. These findings suggest the treatment may have value in managing musculoskeletal and respiratory mechanical dysfunctions associated with asthma, a common obstructive airway disease linked to significant functional impairment and morbidity.
However, the evidence base remains limited due to small sample sizes across the five studies, which reduces confidence in the generalizability of the results. The review also identified substantial heterogeneity in study designs, treatment protocols, and outcome measures, making direct comparisons between studies difficult.
The overall risk of bias in the reviewed studies was moderate, and the certainty of evidence ranged from low to moderate. Because of these factors, the authors noted that even when pulmonary function improvements were observed, the quality of the available data did not allow for firm conclusions about the true effect of OMT in asthma management.
The authors concluded that while OMT may be associated with improved pulmonary function, the findings should be interpreted cautiously. They emphasized that larger, well-designed randomized controlled trials are necessary to determine which patients and techniques benefit most and to clarify the role of OMT in standard asthma care.
References
Ponce A et al. Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment for Asthma: A Systematic Review of Objective Pulmonary Function Outcomes. Cureus. 2026;18(3):e105000.
This article was originally published by EMJ and was made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 License.