Table 1

Summary of infant colic and manual therapy RCTs

Authors	N	Age and treatment numbers, type of treatment	Instrument	Therapy/Control	SSD	Level of evidence
Mercer and Nook	30	0 to 8 weeks of age; maximum of 6 treatments in 2 weeks, manual therapy (MT)	Subjective parent report questionnaires before treatment and subsequent visits	Chiropractic MT to spinal fixations v control of non functional detuned ultrasound machine	yes	C
Wiberg, Nordsteen and Nilsson	50	Treatment mean age 4.9; control mean age 5.9; 3-5 treatments over 2 weeks; manual therapy treatment	Validated crying diary	Light pressure with the finger tips v semithicone as control	yes	C
Olafsdottir, Forshei, Fluge and Markestad	100	3 to 9 wks of age, maximum of 3 treatments over maximum of 8 days; Manual therapy treatment	Crying diary and questionnaire at each visit. At the end of the observation period, the parents were contacted by telephone and interviewed	Light fingertip pressure on thoracic spine. Control infants were held by the nurse for 10 minutes with light back massage after being partially undressed in a similar way as treated infants	No; both groups had a mean reduction in crying from 5.1-5.4 to 3.1 hours per day	C
Koonin, Karpelow-sky, Yelverton and Brent-Rubens	31	Treatment mean age 5.7 weeks;control mean age 5.9 wks; 6 treatments maximum over 2 weeks; manual therapy treatment	Pre, post and follow up questionnaire	Chiropractic manual therapy with allopathic medication v allopathic medication alone	yes	C
Hayden and Mullinger	28	Treatment mean 6.6 weeks of age, control mean age 6.4 weeks; 2-4 treatments of manual therapy	Diary	Cranial osteopathic manual therapy v no treatment	yes	C

SSD-statistically significant difference; N-number of patients; C-level of evidence defined by Bronfort 1997