Hartman and Norton : lnterexaminer Reliability and Cranial Osteopathy

We assess the mechanism purported to underlie the health treatment regime labeled "cranial osteopathy" or "craniosacral therapy." We then summarize all published reports on interexaminer reliability associated with this modality, reanalyze some previously published data, and critique Upiedger'si often-cited study. Our own and previously published findings suggest that the proposed mechanism for cranial osteopathy is invalid and that interexaminer (and, therefore, diagnostic) reliability is approximately zero. Since no properly randomized, blinded, and placebo-controlled outcome studies have been published, we conclude that cranial osteopathy should be removed from curricula of colleges of osteopathic medicine and from osteopathic licensing examinations.