University of New England

Medical researcher Jane Carreiro awarded $100,000
grant to study osteopathic manipulation on
pediatric ear infections

BIDDEFORD - Jane Carreiro, D.O. '88, associate professor and chair of the Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Department at University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Karen Steele, D.O., of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, have been awarded a $100,000 grant to study the effect of osteopathic manipulation in treating children with acute middle ear infections.

The research is being funded by the American Academy of Osteopathy.

Previous Study
The new research is a progression from a study Carreiro co-authored in 2003 on using osteopathic manipulative treatment as an adjunct in the treatment of recurrent ear infections in very young children.

That study showed a significant decrease in ear infections, antibiotic use and surgery in children receiving osteopathic manipulation compared with those receiving standard care.  That study was done in conjunction with the UNE University Health Care pediatric site, UHC Kids, in Portland, Maine, and the University of Oklahoma. That study looked at recurrent infection. 

New Research
This new study will look at the effect of osteopathic manipulation in treating children with acute infections.  When the child has fluid in his ears he is more likely to get an infection. 

It has been shown that even after the child finishes the antibiotics the fluid stays in the ear for an average of  three weeks. During this time the child is susceptible to another infection.  Additionally, often children will have fluid in their ears because of a virus and subsequently get a bacterial infection.  

"If we can get the fluid to drain more quickly we will decrease many of the risks associated with it," Carreiro says.  "Small analysis I have been doing in my clinical practice for the past year suggests that osteopathic manipulation influences fluid drainage in some cases almost immediately.  So we are going to measure this perceived change and compare it with children who are receiving standard medical care only.  Once again we are doing the study in association with UHC Kids and working with the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.

The year long study is a multi-centered single blinded, controlled clinical trial.

Jane Carreiro
Carreiro has been on the faculty at UNECOM since 1993 and has chaired the Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine for almost 10 years.  She is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine.  She has written one book on the Osteopatic Approach to Pediatrics, which has been translated into four languages and is used as the standard text in many osteopathic pediatric courses. She is working on a second pediatrics book. She lives in Kennebunkport, Maine.

(Press release posted May 22, 2007)