Probiotics , fennel extract  and  spinal manipulation  show promise to alleviate symptoms of colic , although some concerns remain .
Background Infantile colic is a distressing condition characterised by excessive crying in the first few months of life .
The aim of this research was to up date the synthesis of evidence of complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ) research literature on infantile colic and establish what evidence is currently available .
Safety and Efficacy of Acupuncture in Children: A Review of the Evidence
Acupuncture has been used therapeutically in China for thous and s of years and is growing in prominence in Europe and the United States . In a recent review of complementary and alternative medicine use in the US population , an estimated 2.1 million people or 1.1 % of the population sought acupuncture care during the past 12 months . Four percent of the US population used acupuncture at any time in their lives . We review ed 31 different published journal articles , including 23 r and omized controlled clinical trials and 8 meta- analysis / systematic review s. We found evidence of some efficacy and low risk associated with acupuncture in pediatrics . From all the conditions we review ed , the most extensive research has looked into acupuncture 's role in managing postoperative and chemotherapy-induced nausea/vomiting . Postoperatively , there is far more evidence of acupuncture 's efficacy for pediatrics than for children treated with chemotherapy . Acupuncture seems to be most effective in preventing postoperative induced nausea in children . For adults , research shows that acupuncture can inhibit chemotherapy-related acute vomiting , but conclusions about its effects in pediatrics can not be made on the basis of the available published clinical trials data to date . Besides nausea and vomiting , research conducted in pain has yielded the most convincing results on acupuncture efficacy . Musculoskeletal and cancer-related pain commonly affects children and adults , but unfortunately , mostly adult studies have been conducted thus far . Because the manifestations of pain can be different in children than in adults , data can not be extrapolated from adult research . Systematic review s have shown that existing data often lack adequate control groups and sample sizes . Vas et al , Alimi et al , and Mehling et al demonstrated some relief for adults treated with acupuncture but we could not find any well-conducted r and omized controlled studies that looked at pediatrics and acupuncture exclusively . Pain is often unresolved from drug therapy , thus there is a need for more studies in this setting . For seasonal allergic rhinitis , we review ed studies conducted by Ng et al and Xue et al in children and adults , respectively . Both population s showed some relief of symptoms through acupuncture , but questions remain about treatment logistics . Additionally , there are limited indications that acupuncture may help cure children afflicted with nocturnal enuresis . Systematic review s show that current published trials have suffered from low trial quality , including small sample sizes . Other areas of pediatric afflictions we review ed that suffer from lack of research include asthma , other neurologic conditions , gastrointestinal disorders , and addiction . Acupuncture has become a dominant complementary and alternative modality in clinical practice today , but its associated risk has been question ed . The National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement states “ one of the advantages of acupuncture is that the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted procedures for the same conditions . ” A review of serious adverse events by White et al found the risk of a major complication occurring to have an incidence between 1:10,000 and 1:100,000 , which is considered “ very low . ” Another study found that the risk of a serious adverse event occurring from acupuncture therapy is the same as taking penicillin . The safety of acupuncture is a serious concern , particularly in pediatrics . Because acupuncture 's mechanism is not known , the use of needles in children becomes question able . For example , acupoints on the vertex of infants should not be needled when the fontanel is not closed . It is also advisable to apply few needles or delay treatment to the children who have overeaten , are overfatigued , or are very weak . Through our review of pediatric adverse events , we found a 1.55 risk of adverse events occurring in 100 treatments of acupuncture that coincides with the low risk detailed in the studies mentioned previously . The actual risk to an individual patient is hard to determine because certain patients , such as an immunosuppressed patient , can be predisposed to an increased risk , acupuncturist 's qualifications differ , and practice s vary in certain parts of the world . Nevertheless , it seems acupuncture is a safe complementary/alternative medicine modality for pediatric patients on the basis of the data we review ed
Probiotics , fennel extract  and  spinal manipulation  show promise to alleviate symptoms of colic , although some concerns remain .
Background Infantile colic is a distressing condition characterised by excessive crying in the first few months of life .
The aim of this research was to up date the synthesis of evidence of complementary and alternative medicine ( CAM ) research literature on infantile colic and establish what evidence is currently available .