Editors Perspective
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EDITORS PERSPECTIVE The Existence and Clinical Meanin gfulness of Vertebral Subluxations Matthew McCoy DC, MPH² Editor One of the more controversial issues involving chiropractic is major national and international chiropractic organization in the existence and meaning of vertebral subluxation. A few the chiropractic profession including: people maintain there is no evidence for subluxations and even go so far as to give the impression that "belief" in the vertebral ♦ The Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation subluxation is limited to some "fringe" group within the ♦ The Council on Chiropractic Education chiropractic profession. Nothing could be further from the ♦ The International Chiropractor's Association truth. ♦ The American Chiropractor's Association ♦ The World Federation of Chiropractic In the United States alone, there is ample support that the ♦ The Congress of Chiropractic State Associations vertebral subluxation is a very a real and verifiable entity. ♦ The Association of Chiropractic Colleges State laws, the US Federal Government, the Foundation for ♦ The Foundation for Chiropractic Education & Vertebral Subluxation, the Council on Chiropractic Practice, Research the International Chiropractor's Association, the American ♦ The Council on Chiropractic Practice Chiropractor's Association, the Federation of Straight ♦ Chiropractic Organizations, and the Association of The Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards ♦ Chiropractic Colleges all define the responsibility of National Board of Chiropractic Examiners chiropractors as the detection and correction of vertebral ♦ The National Association of Chiropractic Attorneys subluxation and its resultant neurological interference. The ACC defines the purpose, principles and practice of The chiropractic guideline document: Vertebral Subluxation in chiropractic as the finding and reduction of vertebral Chiropractic Practice, produced by the Council on subluxations, which will prevent and restore health by Chiropractic Practice CCP) was reviewed by an independent removing interference to the body's inherent recuperative research agency (ECRI) which is a Collaborating Center of the powers. This document, among other things, states that World Health Organization. Based on this review it was chiropractic as a profession "focuses particular attention on the accepted for inclusion in the National Guideline subluxation." Clearinghouse of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research of the United States Federal Government.1-3 The assessment and management of vertebral subluxation is either taught as part of the regular curriculum of chiropractic The CCP and its official published documents were accepted colleges in North America or as part of their post graduate for inclusion in the Healthcare Standards Database and the programs. All of these programs, including the general printed version of the Healthcare Standards: Official curriculum of the chiropractic colleges and the post graduate Directory. Healthcare Standards is a comprehensive list of programs, are approved and Accredited by the Council on published standards, guidelines recommendations, position Chiropractic Education which is subject to the rules and papers, policy statements, technology assessments, and other authority of the United States Federal Government's authoritative documents. This is the World Health Department of Education. These schools also hold Organization's official healthcare standards and guidelines accreditation through various local and regional accrediting archive. The existence of subluxation is in accordance with bodies. The Council on Chiropractic Education, mentioned the published paradigm statement of The Association of above, accredits all of the chiropractic programs in the United Chiropractic Colleges, which was accepted and signed by States and has reciprocal arrangements with accrediting bodies every Chiropractic College President in North America.4-6 in Europe and Australia. According to the Policies document 7 This statement has been endorsed and/or adopted by every of the CCE Subluxations J. Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health - May 24, 2010 85 "The Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) regulating the practice of chiropractic. The epidemiology of accepts the physiological principles of organization subluxation has been researched since the inception of in living things and the manifestation of the self- chiropractic over 100 years ago with basic science and clinical regulatory mechanisms inherent in the body. research to further elucidate the nature of it continuing to this day. CCE accepts that the nervous system is vulnerable to disturbances resulting from derangements of the A few individuals within the profession contend that the neurobiomechanical system, including the vertebral existence of subluxation is questionable and have chided the column and vertebral subluxations. profession for not addressing their contention. While most acknowledge that certain individuals and groups within the The educational process should be a reinforcement profession do make such an assertion, such contentions are not of the validity of the basic principles of chiropractic taken seriously. The above review of the subluxation within and an encouragement to the student to apply those the chiropractic profession, government, state law, principles in his or her clinical programs, with chiropractic educational bodies and scientific literature serves emphasis given to detection and correction of as evidence of its entrenched status. Further, according to derangements of the neurobiomechanical system, Rome there are 296 variations and synonyms of subluxation including vertebral subluxation." used by medical, chiropractic and other professions leading him to remark "It is suggested that with so many attempts to The American Medical Association, in its Guides to the establish a term for such a clinical and biological finding, an Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, lists the following as entity of some significance must exist."10 acceptable means to rate impairment:8 According to Kent's paper Models of Vertebral Subluxation • Impairment due to loss of muscle power and motor the term subluxation has a long history in the healing arts function, literature and it may be used differently outside of the • Impairment due to abnormal motion of the spine, chiropractic profession.11 The earliest non-chiropractic English • Impairment due to loss of motion segment integrity, definition is attributed to Randall Holme in 1668. Holme 11 • Impairment due to disc problems, defined subluxation as "a dislocation or putting out of joint." • Impairment due to pain or sensory deficit, In medical literature, subluxation often refers to an osseous • Impairment due to segmental instability. disrelationship which is less than a dislocation. However, B.J. Palmer, the developer of chiropractic, hypothesized that the These are, in fact, components of the Vertebral Subluxation "vertebral subluxation" was unique from the medical use of Complex. the term "subluxation" in that it also interfered with the transmission of neurological information independent of what The Guidelines for Evaluation and Management Services has come to be recognized as the action potential. Since this published by the Health Care Financing Administration of the component has yet to be identified in a quantitative sense, United States Federal Government and the American Medical practitioners currently assess the presence and correction of vertebral subluxation through parameters which measure its Association (May 1997) outline what an objective 11 examination should consist of and these include commonly other components. These may include some type of vertebral used neuromusculoskeletal exam procedures within biomechanical abnormality, soft tissue insult of the spinal cord chiropractic such as: postural analysis, palpation, assessment and/or associated structures and some form of neurological for subluxation, range of motion and assessment of muscle dysfunction involving the synapse separate from the 9 transmission of neurological information referred to by tone. All of these are used to assess and manage subluxation. 11 Palmer. The Federal Government of the United States specifically defines what chiropractors do as the detection and correction As noted, chiropractic definitions of subluxation include a of subluxation under Medicare and Federal worker's neurological component. In this regard, Lantz stated "common to all concepts of subluxation are some form of kinesiological compensation laws. Common to all state statutes is the 12-14 adjustive process being utilized to reduce subluxations and the dysfunction and some form of neurological involvement." resultant interference to nerve transmission. No less than 38 In the position paper of The Association of Chiropractic states employ the term adjustment in licensing laws in Colleges they define subluxation as follows: reference to the procedures applied by chiropractors. Eighteen state statutes additionally include the concept of manipulation, "A subluxation is a complex of functional and/or 34 states contain specific references to responsibility for structural and/or pathological articular changes that neurological complications of biomechanical origin compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health." (subluxation) and over half the chiropractic profession practice in these states. In addition, 11 states specifically discuss the concept of subluxation in their statutes