Geoffrey Bove receives $790K Research Project Grant
Geoffrey Bove, D.C., Ph.D., an associate research professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, recently received a $790,000 Research Project Grant, which is funded by the Public Health Service through the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Bove鈥檚 team includes Susan Chapelle, RMT (Squamish, British Columbia), and Adrienne McAuley, MEd, DPT (assistant clinical professor, Department of Physical Therapy, 新香港六合彩资料).
The group will be extending Bove and Chapelle鈥檚 previous studies of abdominal massage to prevent the formation of postsurgical scar tissue and to relieve disruption to the pattern of muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract, called ileus.
The specific type of abdominal massage that the researchers are studying, visceral manipulation, is a very old practice of providing relief from constipation, with evidence of its use found in Mayan records. The research team believes that this method of treatment, in addition to being used for digestive issues, can also reduce the formation of scar tissue, or adhesions, that affect organs following surgical procedures, such as pelvic surgeries due to cancer or Cesarean births.
Bove and Chapelle鈥檚 initial experiments demonstrated that a trained therapist could identify experimental adhesions in a rat model and disrupt them using manual methods. Further experiments revealed a link between postoperative adhesions and ileus. Their planned experiments will extend these findings.
While visceral manipulation is currently performed by massage therapists, osteopaths, and other therapists to relieve adhesions, other than Bove鈥檚 and Chapelle鈥檚 initial research, no evidence supports the usefulness of the modality beyond its known beneficial effects on constipation. Bove states, 鈥淚f our research data shows that visceral manipulation reduces or prevents postoperative adhesions in our rat models, human studies would be the next logical step, and this could translate into significant cost savings to our health care system and improved outcomes for patients.鈥