This meta-analysis found no convincing evidence that spinal manipulation alone can affect the duration of infantile colic symptoms. The effect of spinal manipulation on sleep time, parental anxiety, quality of life and number of colic diagnoses could not be determined using available evidence. Potential harm from the spinal manipulation of infants with colic could not be determined because the presence or absence of adverse events was not described in any of the trial reports reviewed.
More rigorous research is needed to adequately measure the safety and efficacy of spinal manipulation for the treatment of infantile colic. Greater efforts must be made to compare infants of similar age. Issues to consider include placebo response rates as high as 83%, the self-limiting quality of colic symptoms, and the fact that colic plays itself out over several months .