The Effectiveness of Pump Techniques and Pompages: A Systematic Review

Background: Osteopathic manual procedures called pump techniques include thoracic, abdominal, and pedal pumps. Similar techniques, called pompages, are also addressed to joints and muscles. Despite their widespread use, no systematic review has been published on their effectiveness. (2) Methods: CINAHL, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, ISI Web of Science, PEDro, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched until July 2020. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) on adults were included. Subjective (e.g., pain, physical function) and objective (e.g., pulmonary function, blood collection) outcomes were considered. The Risk of Bias tool (RoB 2) and the GRADE instrument were used to evaluate the quality of evidence. (3) Results: 25 RCTs were included: 20 concerning the pump techniques and five concerning pompages. Due to the extensive heterogeneity of such studies, it was not possible to perform a meta-analysis. The risk of bias resulted from moderate to high and the quality of the evidence was from very low to high. Singular studies suggested some effectiveness of pump techniques on pain and length of hospitalization. Pompage seems also to help improve walking distance and balance. (4) Conclusions: Although several studies have been published on manual pump techniques, the differences for population, modalities, dosage, and outcome measures do not allow definite conclusions of their effectiveness.