Recently, a story has been circulating that a chiropractor was the cause of a patient’s ruptured artery which ultimately led to her death. While my sympathy goes out to the family involved, with respect to the safety of cervical (neck) adjustments – all of the best available scientific evidence indicates that a chiropractic adjustment is NOT capable of creating the type of trauma needed to dissect an artery and/or cause a stroke.
In fact, if you look at the research released just this year on chiropractic and stroke, entitled “Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Chiropractic Care and Cervical Artery Dissection: No Evidence for Causation.”, their conclusion is as follows: “There is no convincing evidence to support a causal link, and unfounded belief in causation may have dire consequences.” It’s important to note that this research was authored by a group of neurosurgeons (NOT chiropractors).
Millions of neck adjustments are performed safely in the U.S. every year, providing patients relief from common forms of neck pain, headache and a variety of ailments and helping them to get back to their normal activities and perform optimally. Doctors of chiropractic have some of the lowest malpractice insurance premiums in health care because of the low risk associated with the treatments they utilize, it’s one of the safest health professions in the world.
The reason why there is even a relationship at all is due to the symptoms of a cervical artery dissection (CAD). 80% of patients with CAD report neck pain or headache, and they are more likely to visit a chiropractor than patients without neck pain. This means that in some cases those complaints of neck pain and headaches are secondary to vascular problems that may already be in process, and those vascular problems are not picked up on.
When a patient has suffered from a trauma to his or her neck (like a fall) – as was the case in this recent story – they are extremely more likely to exhibit symptoms of an artery dissection (severe dizziness, neck pain, extremely painful headache). Which is why we refer for advanced diagnostic imaging in the rare instances that these symptoms show up. My training is key in recognizing this so that my patient gets the right care. I can assure you, if the history and examination lead me to suspect even the outside possibility of a dissection or stroke – I DO NOT adjust.
Bottom line: The research shows that adjustments do not cause stroke but the truth is that anyone, even MD’s, can miss one in progress. This is the reason that at True Health Chiropractic, we perform a complete history and exam to make sure this is not the cause of your problem.
