Christopher J. Colloca, D.C.
"It is critically
important for the chiropractic profession to document the full gamut of
conditions it both diagnoses and treats; this allows for better
standards of care to be set and it provides a rationale for developing
clinical trials. But this also requires a greater level of precision in
the reporting of these cases."
-Dana J. Lawrence, Editor, Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics, 1993; 16(3):123.
The
reporting a case provides a detailed description of interesting and
useful clinical information to other practitioners and the general
public. Case reports are educational, discussing unusual cases or novel
clinical approaches to advance the current knowledge base. Case reports
assist in documenting the standard and range of chiropractic care, and
in doing so they disseminate both the benefits and limitations of
chiropractic care in the literature.
Together with Dr.
Brad Polkinghorn (Santa Monica, CA) I have co-authored several case
reports on important cases responding to chiropractic care. In 1998, we
published on chiropractic treatment of a patient with lumbar disc
herniation (Polkinghorn and Colloca, 1998). This patient was diagnosed
with a 6 mm central disc protrusion and presented with accompanying leg
pain and neurological deficit in combination with discogenic
pseudoradicular pain to the anterior thigh. Chiropractic adjustments
utilizing Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique (AMCT) were
associated with complete resolution of the patients condition which was
maintained at a 1 year follow-up.
In 1999, we wrote
about a patient presenting with coccygodynia who also responded
favorably to chiropractic care utilizing AMCT procedures (Polkinghorn
and Colloca, 1999). In, 2000, Dr. Polkinghorn and I submitted another
case report describing chiropractic management of a patient with
post-surgical cervical spine pain that also resolved through
chiropractic management. (Polkinghorn and Colloca, 2001). These
interesting cases, and others published by Dr. Polkinghorn
(Polkinghorn, 1998;Polkinghorn, 1995;Polkinghorn, 1994) have described
unique cases responding to chiropractic care incorporating AMCT.
If you have an interest in publishing a case report, see below for information on how to get started.
Structured Abstracts for Case Reports Submitted to the Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics
(From: Lawrence DJ. Structured abstracts for case reports published in JMPT. 1993; 16(3):123-4.)Objective
The objective describes what the case report attempts to accomplish. Is it presenting a rare case? Or, perhaps, is it describing an unusual response to treatment. Here, in a short few sentences, you describe the intent and importance of the report.Clinical Features
This section lists the important clinical features of the condition discussed, including important physical findings, neurological and orthopaedic findings, radiographic or other imaging results and any other special studies performed.Intervention and Outcome
Describe the type of care rendered to the patient and the ultimate response to therapy.Conclusions
What was learned from this case? What did the author conclude, and what recommendations might be made.Above, this represents the structured abstract of a case report submitted to the JMPT.
References
Polkinghorn,B.S.,
1994. Conservative treatment of torn medial meniscus via mechanical
force, manually assisted short lever chiropractic adjusting procedures.
J Manipulative Physiol Ther, 17,(7), 474-484.
Polkinghorn,B.S.,
1995. Chiropractic treatment of frozen shoulder syndrome (adhesive
capsulitis) utilizing mechanical force, manually assisted short lever
adjusting procedures. J Manipulative Physiol Ther, 18,(2), 105-115.
Polkinghorn,B.S.,
1998. Treatment of cervical disc protrusions via instrumental
chiropractic adjustment. J Manipulative.Physiol Ther., 21,(2), 114-121.
Polkinghorn,B.S. & Colloca,C.J., 1998. Treatment of
symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic
technique. J.Manipulative.Physiol.Ther., 21,(3), 187-196.
Polkinghorn,B.S.
& Colloca,C.J., 1999. Chiropractic treatment of coccygodynia via
instrumental adjusting procedures using activator methods chiropractic
technique. J Manipulative.Physiol Ther., 22,(6), 411-416.
Polkinghorn,B.S.
& Colloca,C.J., 2001. Chiropractic treatment of postsurgical neck
syndrome utilizing mechanical force, manually assisted short-lever
spinal adjustments. J Manipulative Physiol Ther, accepted for
publication.