ArticleFrontiers in integrative neuroscience2021
Manual Therapy Research Methods in Animal Models, Focusing on Soft Tissues.
Article in Frontiers in integrative neuroscience, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Manual therapy treatment mechanisms are complex: Challenges and a call to action.Complementary therapies in medicine · 2026Article
- Technologies to investigate the mechanisms of force-based manipulations: a narrative methods review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Evaluating massage therapy for radiation-induced fibrosis in rats: preliminary findings and palpation results.Cancer biology & therapy · 2024Article
- Characterization of pain-related behaviors in a rat model of acute-to-chronic low back pain: single vs. multi-level disc injury.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Manual Therapy Facilitates Homeostatic Adaptation to Bone Microstructural Declines Induced by a Rat Model of Repetitive Forceful Task.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Manual therapies have been practiced for centuries, yet little research has been performed to understand their efficacy and almost no animal research has been performed to inform mechanisms of action. The methods of manual therapy practice are quite varied and present a challenge for scientists to model the treatments and perform research using rodents. In this perspective we present a descriptive analysis of the complexity of the treatments, highlighting the role of tissue mechanics and physics. With these complexities in mind, we compare using manual therapy as clinically practiced, to attempts to develop machinery to model or mimic manual therapy. We propose that because of the complexities of manual therapy as practiced, having therapists perform the treatments on research animals just as they would on humans is the most scientific approach. Our results using this approach have supported its practicality.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.