Combined use of osteopathic correction and transcranial micropolarization of the brain in the treatment of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Authors: Belash V. O. , Bayer D. V. , Kostousov V. V. 
Published: December 2021

Introduction. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobehavioral disorder that occurs in 5-8 % of school-age children and persists into adulthood in 60 % of cases. At the present stage of neurology development, a number of significant drawbacks have been noted in the pharmacological correction of ADHD: the need for a long course of medication, the problem of polypragmasia, side effects and allergic reactions. Thus, there is a real need to develop non-drug ways to correct ADHD. Previous studies have demonstrated a sufficiently high clinical efficacy of transcranial micropolarization of the brain in the treatment of this patients group. Some studies have shown the effectiveness of the osteopathic correction use, which can increase the effectiveness of selective and sustained attention in children with ADHD. At the same time, the question of the possibility of combining various non-drug methods of treatment is quite acute.

The aim of the study is to research the feasibility of osteopathic correction using in combination with transcranial micropolarization of the brain in the complex treatment of children with ADHD.

Materials and methods. A controlled randomized trial was conducted in the period from January 2018 to February 2020 in Ekaterinburg and St. Petersburg. 68 patients with the established diagnosis attention deficit hyperactivity disorder aged 6 to 10 years, including 42 boys and 26 girls, were under observation. All patients, depending on the used treatment method, were divided by simple randomization into two comparable groups: the main group — 34 people, 22 boys and 12 girls, average age 7,4±1,2 years; the control group consisted of 34 people, 20 boys and 14 girls, with an average age 7,8±1,1 years. Patients received drug therapy with hopanthenic acid in age-related dosages (30 mg/kg body weight), course duration of 2 months, and transcerebral micropolarization of the brain. Each patient received one course of micropolarization, consisting of 15 sessions, the duration of each session was 30 minutes. Patients of the main group received osteopathic correction in addition to the therapy described above. In total, 4 sessions of 60 minutes each were held. The interval between the first sessions was 10 days, between subsequent sessions — from 10 to 14 days. There were evaluated the osteopathic status, the severity of ADHD manifestations and the short-term memory indicators, and the type and properties of the nervous system were determined for all patients, regardless of the group, before the start of treatment, as well as after the completion of the course of complex therapy.

Results. After the therapy, there was a statistically significant decrease (p<0,05) in scores quantity on the ADHD assessment scale (ICD-10 criteria) both in the main and in the control groups, which reflects a decrease in the severity of clinical manifestations of this syndrome and demonstrates the effectiveness of the used therapy methods. In patients of the main group who received osteopathic correction, compared with the control group, there was also a significant (p<0,05) decrease in the number of regional dominant somatic dysfunctions, an increase in short-term memory indicators and a change in the type and properties of the nervous system (from weak to stable).

Conclusion. The therapy carried out both with the use of osteopathic correction and without it, equally leads to a decrease in the degree of manifestations of ADHD. This indicates the clinical effectiveness of both studied integrated approaches to the treatment of children with ADHD. At the same time, osteopathic correction in the treatment of patients with ADHD significantly increases the indicators characterizing short-term memory and changes the type of response of the nervous system. These changes can be regarded as a potential opportunity to increase the learning ability of children and improve their socialization.