Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment improves gait pattern and posture in adult patients with Prader-Willi syndrome

Background: Prader Willi syndrome (PWS) is the most frequent type of syndromic obesity and major clinical features include muscular hypotonia, early onset of obesity, short stature, scoliosis, developmental delays, reduced spontaneous physical activity, gait and postural disorders. Improving balance and walking ability in these patients could enhance their health status and quality of life. Objective: The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of an Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) session on gait pattern and posture in adults with PWS. Methods: Ten patients with PWS (age: 37.0 + 4.3 years) were evaluated at admission (PRE session) and 24 h after the conclusion of one single 45-min OMT session (POST session), using gait analysis and static posturography. Two control groups were recruited: the first one included 15 obese subjects and the second group included 20 normal weight subjects. Results: After the OMT treatment, significant effects on posture and on walking were reported. In particular, significant improvements were observed in knee kinematics (knee position at initial contact and in mid-stance) and ankle kinetics (in terms of the peaks of ankle moment and power during terminal stance), with higher value of ground reaction force at push-off. Significant improvements were found in terms of postural analysis of the centre of pressure, which decreased its excursion in antero-posterior and medio-lateral direction and its trace length. Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that OMT within a comprehensive rehabilitation program could reduce costs and increase effectiveness of the rehabilitation treatment of these patients. (c) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.