The state of research on complementary and alternative medicine in pediatric rheumatology.

This article reviews available evidence on complementary and alternative medicine in pediatric rheumatology. Despite its common use in pediatric rheumatology (34%-92%), there is still uncertainty as to its efficacy and safety. Although results are promising for some treatments such as massage, acupuncture, mind-body interventions (eg, guided imagery and meditative breathing), and some natural health products (eg, calcium supplements and Tripterygium wilfordii), there is a need for high-quality trials investigating the long-term effects and underlying mechanisms of these therapies as well as research on their use in this population of patients.