Impact of osteopathic manipulative therapy on quality of life of patients with deep infiltrating endometriosis with colorectal involvement: results of a pilot study

ObjectiveA prospective pilot study to evaluate the potential role of osteopathic manipulative therapy (OMT) on quality of life (QOL) of patients with Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis (DIE) and colorectal involvement.Study designTwenty patients with DIE and colorectal infiltration completed the SF-36 QOL questionnaire before and after undergoing OMT.ResultsThe median age (range) of the patients was 30.4 years (22–39). Thirty-five percent of the patients had undergone previous surgery for endometriosis and 70% were on medical treatment. Fifteen of the 20 patients (75%) completed the protocol. There was no difference in the epidemiological characteristics or in the pre-OMT Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) of the SF-36 questionnaire between patients who completed the protocol or not. After a mean period of 24 days (15–53), a significant improvement in PCS (p = 0.03) and MCS (p = 0.0009) compared to pre-OMT values was observed giving a success rate of 80% and 60% in intention-to-treat, respectively.ConclusionOur results support that OMT can improve QOL of patients with DIE and colorectal involvement. Moreover, this pilot study can serve to determine power calculations for future randomized trials.