Ten-year Retrospective Study on the Efficacy of a Manual Physical Therapy to Treat Female Infertility

BackgroundFemale infertility is a complex issue encompassing a wide variety of diagnoses, many of which are caused or affected by adhesions. ObjectivesThe study intended to examine the rates of successful treatment of infertile women using a protocol of manual physical therapy to address underlying adhesive disease leading to infertility. MethodsThe research team designed a retrospective chart review. SettingThe study took place in a private physical therapy clinic. ParticipantsParticipants were 1392 female patients who were treated at the clinic between the years of 2002 and 2011. They had varying diagnoses of infertility, including occluded fallopian tubes, hormonal dysfunction, and endometriosis, and some women were undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). InterventionAll patients underwent whole-body, patient- centered treatments that used a protocol of manual physical therapy, which focused on restoring mobility and motility to structures affecting reproductive function. Outcome MeasuresImprovements demonstrated in the condition(s) causing infertility were measured by improvements in tubal patency and/or improved hormone levels or by pregnancy. ResultsThe results included a 60.85% rate of clearing occluded fallopian tubes, with a 56.64% rate of pregnancy in those patients. Patients with endometriosis experienced a 42.81% pregnancy rate. The success rate was 49.18% for lowering elevated levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), with a 39.34% pregnancy rate in that group, and 53.57% of the women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) achieved pregnancy. The reported pregnancy rate for patients who underwent IVF after the therapy was 56.16%. The results also suggested that the treatment was effective for patients with premature ovarian failure (POF). ConclusionThe manual physical therapy represented an effective, conservative treatment for women diagnosed as infertile due to mechanical causes, independent of the specific etiology. (Altern Ther Health Med. 2015;21(3):32- 40.)