OBJECTIVE: An increasing body of evidence suggests a positive role of chiropractic in the treatment of neuro-musculoskeletal disorders. This study aims to explore current research hotspots and trends, providing insights into the broad prospects of this field.
METHODS: A bibliometric review was conducted on all chiropractic articles included in the Web of Science Core Collection before December 31, 2023.
RESULTS: Over the past century, the volume of research in the field of chiropractic has been fluctuating annually, with four peaks observed in total. The United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom are leading countries. Chu, Eric Chun-Pu is the author with the most publications, while Bronfort, Gert has the highest total citation count. The University of Southern Denmark has produced the most publications, while Queens University - Canada is the most central institution. The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics is the journal with the most publications and citations, while the Journal of the American Medical Association is the most central journal. The two most-cited articles were both authored by Eisenberg DM. Emerging keywords include \"chronic pain\" and \"skills\". The theoretical mechanisms and scientific basis of chiropractic, its clinical practice and safety, education and training, integration with other disciplines, and patient experiences and satisfaction are the frontiers and hotspots of research.
CONCLUSIONS: This study integrates bibliometric analysis to summarize the current state of research and global network centers in the field of chiropractic, further highlighting the hotspots and trends in this field. However, Individual and national rankings should be interpreted with caution due to our focus on Web of Science rather than PubMed.

BACKGROUND: This case report aims to provide clinical evidence on the effectiveness of integrating chiropractic and moxibustion techniques for treating pseudomyopia accompanied by elevated intraocular pressure resulting from cervical spine issues because the application of complementary medicine modalities for managing such vision disorders currently lacks adequate investigations.
METHODS: A 6-year-old patient presented with blurred vision, intermittent ocular discomfort, and upper cervical discomfort.
METHODS: Spine-related increased intraocular pressure and pseudomyopia.
METHODS: The patient received integrative treatment of chiropractic and walnut-shell moxibustion 3 times a week for a total of 10 treatment sessions.
RESULTS: The patient exhibited progressive improvements in visual acuity and reductions in intraocular pressure over the treatment period, with unaided vision exceeding 2 lines of improvement in visual acuity charts and normalized intraocular pressure after 10 treatment sessions. These therapeutic effects were sustained at 3-month follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS: The integrative use of chiropractic and walnut-shell moxibustion demonstrates considerable potential in alleviating symptoms of pseudomyopia, reducing intraocular pressure, and restoring visual function in spine-related pseudomyopia cases.

Cervicogenic dysphagia is a complex condition that can arise from biomechanical dysfunction in the cervical spine. Conventional treatment outcomes are not always guaranteed. Chiropractic treatment is considered an alternative treatment for dysphagia, yet there is a lack of evidence supporting its effectiveness. We present the case of a 48-year-old male who had difficulty swallowing for eight months. He had a feeling of food stuck in his throat when eating hard food but without any pain when swallowing, and eventually, he could not swallow any dry food. He was diagnosed with dysphagia associated with an anxiety disorder and was treated with medication, but there was no improvement in his condition. A full-spine radiograph revealed biomechanical dysfunction, including reduced cervical lordosis and levoscoliosis of the upper thoracic spine. After nine months of conventional physiotherapy, the patient completely recovered from his symptoms, with significantly improved biomechanical parameters. This study highlights the potential mechanism of cervicogenic dysphagia and the effect of chiropractic treatment in managing it. Applying chiropractic treatment, including spinal manipulative therapy, instrument-assisted soft tissue manipulation, and mechanical traction, might bring a positive outcome for dysphagia patients with careful consideration.

UNASSIGNED: Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is characterized by new or worsening muscular weakness, atrophy, muscle and joint pain, and muscle fatiguability decades after paralytic poliomyelitis infection.
UNASSIGNED: A 56-year-old man was diagnosed with paralytic poliomyelitis at the age of five, which left him with flaccid paralysis and weakness of the right leg. One year before seeking chiropractic care, the patient saw his primary care physician with neck pain, low back pain, and fatigue. At the time, he had been diagnosed with degenerative spondylosis and was being treated with tricyclic antidepressants, clonazepam, and tramadol. Despite taking the drugs, his spinal pain and fatigability deteriorated, and he acquired head ptosis during the following six months. As a result, he sought chiropractic care for second opinion. Due to the patient\'s failure to respond to oral analgesics, radiographs were performed, which revealed degenerative spondylosis, cervical flexion deformity, right pelvic drop, and right thoracolumbar scoliosis. The patient met the PPS diagnostic criteria. PPS related isolated neck extensor myopathy (INEM) was impressed. Multimodal intervention including cervical and lumbar manipulation, spinal traction, micro-vibration deep muscle massage, and core muscle training was provided. As a result of 40-month treatment, the patient reported full resolution of physical complaints. Head posture restored, cervical curvature retrieved and pelvic obliquity relatively corrected.
UNASSIGNED: Survivors of paralytic polio are especially vulnerable to developing leg weakness and length discrepancy, pelvic obliquity, asymmetric axial loading, and trunk muscular imbalance. The current case demonstrates a rare myopathy in a patient at post-polio stage, as well as the restoration of neck function with chiropractic intervention.

This study explores the significant role chiropractic care can play in the sports industry, with a focus on countries like China and Hong Kong. As a vital component of sports medicine, chiropractic care can enhance athletic performance, health, and competitiveness by addressing biomechanical imbalances and optimizing neuromuscular function. The potential impact of chiropractic care on the sports industry includes attracting international events and investments, leading to increased economic opportunities, and the overall growth of the industry. Key strategies for promoting chiropractic care in the sports industry encompass developing a robust chiropractic care infrastructure, raising public awareness through targeted campaigns, and implementing supportive policies by governments and sports organizations. The integration of chiropractic care within sports medicine not only benefits individual athletes but also contributes to the broader development and success of the sports industry as a whole.

Atypical symptoms of cervical spondylosis include headache, nausea, gastrointestinal discomfort, blurred vision, tinnitus, hypomnesia, and palpitations. Successful treatment of these atypical symptoms has been achieved after conservative non-invasive and surgical spinal treatments, although the role of these interventions in mitigating atypical symptoms of cervical spondylosis is unclear. Our study introduces and elaborates on the visual dysfunction caused by cervical spondylosis. Although there are reports in the literature that spinal manipulation and surgery can improve visual dysfunction, the correlation has remained unclear and controversial. The article reviews the latest research to identify the possible mechanisms of visual dysfunction caused by cervical spine diseases.

Patients presenting with chest pain to the emergency department constitute a diagnostic challenge as 77% of the patients\' symptoms are not cardiac. Diagnostic uncertainty is a pervasive issue in primary care. A 56-year-old man presented with non-traumatic chest pain and chronic neck pain for 2 years, as well as numbness in his right third and fourth fingers for 6 months. It was not associated with palpitation, orthopnea or pedal edema. Except for hyperglycemia, no abnormal findings were found in diagnostic tests. At that time, he was being treated for type 2 diabetes using glucose-lowering drugs in order to lower his blood glucose and lessen his risk of heart disease. The cause of his chest pain remained unknown. Following a second opinion from an orthopedist, the patient was diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy and was treated with analgesics and physical therapy. Because the treatments had only provided temporary pain relief for the previous 6 months, he sought chiropractic care for pain relief. The patient\'s vital signs were stable and within normal limits during the assessment. A restricted neck movement, a positive Spurling test, and hypoesthesia in the right C7 dermatome were seen. Cervical radiographs revealed degenerative spondylosis with right C5/C6 neuroforaminal stenoses and bilateral C6/C7 neuroforaminal stenoses. A provisional diagnosis of cervical spondylotic radiculopathy associated with cervicogenic angina (CA) was made. Chiropractic procedures, including cervical manipulation, instrumented soft tissue mobilization, and motorized intermittent neck traction, were performed two to three times per week. After 3 months, the patient reported that the chest pain, neck pain, and radicular symptoms had completely resolved. Repeated radiographs taken during the 11th month follow-up revealed a comparable improvement in the increased spacing of the restricted neuroforamina, which could signify a beneficial alteration related to cervical function retrieval. CA is an angina-like chest pain caused by cervical spine disorders. This study adds to our understanding of the biomechanical impact of cervical radiculopathy on chest pain, which has largely been overlooked during diagnostic workups. Once cervical radiculopathy has been identified, CA symptoms can be eased by alleviating the noxious input stemming from the pinched nerve roots.

The present case study describes the long-term symptomatic remission in a patient with fibromyalgia (FM) after multimodal spinal manipulation. A 44-year-old woman presented with a chronic headache, severe neck pain, shoulder pain, and back pain lasting for 2 years after experiencing domestic violence. She had sleep disorders, fatigue, and depressive mood. Her primary care physician diagnosed her with FM and comorbid depression. Despite treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants, anti-depressants, anti-epileptics, acupuncture, and aqua-therapy, she experienced no appreciable relief from her symptoms. The patient then sought a chiropractic evaluation and potential treatment for her symptoms. At presentation, widespread tenderness was palpable over the neck, shoulder, back, anterior chest, abdominal wall, and buttock. Radiographs showed loss of cervical lordosis, widespread degenerative spondylosis, and osteitis pubis. Surface electromyography (sEMG) revealed neck and thoracic paraspinal muscular spasms. The patient was diagnosed with FM based on the American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria and the associated comorbidities. Multimodal chiropractic approaches, which consisted of spinal manipulation, massage, and intermittent motorized cervical traction, were used twice weekly to relieve soft-tissues and intervertebral joints and stretch core musculatures. The patient\'s physical and mental complaints were mostly resolved near the end of 9 months of treatment. Her symptom alleviation was associated with corresponding change in normalized sEMG signal and cervical spine realignment at the 16th- and 26th-month follow-ups. Widespread pain in FM can lead to confused thinking and a lack of awareness of cervical spondylosis. In this example, it is assumed that the noxious cervical inputs triggered an ongoing FM process. Chiropractic treatment blocked noxious inputs coming from pain sources, corrected pain thresholds, and lowered excitability, thereby eradicating FM symptoms.

We report the case of a 78-year-old woman who presented with a 14-month history of progressive bilateral knee spasms and pain and reduced quality of life. The patient had undergone bilateral total knee arthroplasty after a diagnosis of osteoarthritis and failure of conservative treatment. Symptoms reappeared 8 months postoperatively, and the patient was diagnosed with cervical spondylotic myelopathy. Consequently, she was successfully treated with chiropractic rehabilitation which involved scraping therapy, spinal manipulation, and intermittent motorized traction to relieve cervical nerve pressure. Thus, cervical spondylotic myelopathy should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cases of persistent knee pain.

Parkinson\'s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disease characterized by muscle stiffness, tremor, slowness of movement, and difficulties with posture and walking. Muscle and joint pain are frequent non-motor symptoms of PD. Pain associated with PD is mainly caused by a combination of truncal dystonia, stooped posture, and muscle rigidity. However, PD deformities were rarely discussed in the literature. A 68-year-old Asian female with PD treated with Levodopa for six years complained of progressive neck pain, contractures, and subluxation of both hands in the last two years. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan revealed decreased rostrocaudal gradient uptake in both posterior putamen. After 9 months of multimodal chiropractic rehabilitation, the patient had significant improvement in symptoms, including pain resolution as per the numeric rating scale and physical and mental improvement as per the PD questionnaire. Radiographic measurement showed significantly improved postural alignment and stability. Measurement of joint motion and angles showed an improvement in hand deformity. Although PD is a neurodegenerative disease that is not curable, multimodal rehabilitation may improve neurological and musculoskeletal functions by inducing proprioceptive balance, motor strength, and joint movement. The current study may illustrate multimodal rehabilitation addressing orthopedic deformity associated with symptoms in a PD patient.