Osteopathic manipulative treatment applications for the emergency department patient.

The emergency department (ED) setting offers osteopathic physicians multiple opportunities to provide osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) as either the primary therapy or as an adjunct to the intervention. In doing so, osteopathic physicians can decrease or eliminate the morbidity and symptoms associated with protracted dysfunction. Low back pain, chest pain, torticollis, asthma, and sinusitis are some of the illnesses in which OMT should be implemented as part of the management plan, note the authors. They provide a guide to the general usage of OMT when the aforementioned illnesses present themselves in ED patients, but also emphasize the importance of first ruling out any underlying illnesses that could be manifested by musculoskeletal symptoms.