The facts ...
Most studies of spinal adjusting don’t even mention any assessment of
adverse events.
“In the 26 RCTs of SMT for acute low back pain ... 18 publications made no men-
tion of any assessment of adverse events, three publications made general
comments about adverse events (‘no adverse effects were documented ...’),
and five publications reported on specific adverse events, none of which were
judged to be related to the treatment ...” 19
Known risks of serious side effects by intervention: 22
- Spine surgery: 1,800/1,000,000
- Use of NSAIDS: 153/1,000,000
- Use of prescription opioid medication: 53.6/1,000,000
- Chiropractic care: <1/1,000,000
Chiropractic care has not been identified as a cause of vertebral artery dissection
leading to stroke.
“We found no evidence of excess risk of VBA stroke associated chiropractic care
compared to primary care.” 23
“We found no significant association between exposure to chiropractic care and
the risk of VBA stroke.” 24
“There is no convincing evidence to support a causal link between chiropractic
manipulation and CAD.” 25
[SAE=Serious adverse events, SMT=spinal manipulative therapy]
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