The fourth ventricle compression technique (CV-4) is one of the most important techniques in the treatment of cranial osteopathy.~During the present study, the effects of CV-4 technique will be analyzed in the following variables: heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, conductivity and thermal variation of the skin.~According to the literature, CV-4 technique will cause changes in all of the studied variables, except the respiratory rate, through the activation of the brain stem, namely the parasympathetic nerve centers.~Regarding the respiratory rate, it is justified by the fourth ventricle and the respiratory centers proximity.~Concerning heart rate and respiratory rate, during the CV-4 technique the literature describes a decrease in the values of this variables. However, other studies refer that the technique does not produce relevant effects in the heart and respiratory rates variation, probably because there was no stipulated time to finish the technique, ending subjectively compared to previous ones.~When it comes to blood pressure, a decrease in systolic blood pressure values is noticed by some authors.~In which concerns the variation in body temperature, according to the literature, there were no significant results obtained when performing CV-4.~During the performed literature analysis,there were not found any studies concerning the influences of the CV-4 technique in the thermal conductivity variable.
This study aims to analyze the influence of the fourth ventricle compression technique in heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, conductivity and thermal variability of the skin in healthy young adults.