Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation - Volume 31, issue 5
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Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation is a journal whose main focus is to present relevant information about the interdisciplinary approach to musculoskeletal rehabilitation for clinicians who treat patients with back and musculoskeletal pain complaints. It will provide readers with both 1) a general fund of knowledge on the assessment and management of specific problems and 2) new information considered to be state-of-the-art in the field. The intended audience is multidisciplinary as well as multi-specialty.
In each issue clinicians can find information which they can use in their patient setting the very next day. Manuscripts are provided from a range of health care providers including those in physical medicine, orthopedic surgery, rheumatology, neurosurgery, physical therapy, radiology, osteopathy, chiropractic and nursing on topics ranging from chronic pain to sports medicine. Diagnostic decision trees and treatment algorithms are encouraged in each manuscript. Controversial topics are discussed in commentaries and rebuttals. Associated areas such as medical-legal, worker's compensation and practice guidelines are included.
The journal publishes original research papers, review articles, programme descriptions and cast studies. Letters to the editors, commentaries, and editorials are also welcomed. Manuscripts are peer reviewed. Constructive critiques are given to each author. Suggestions for thematic issues and proposed manuscripts are welcomed.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Clinical and electrophysiological effects of therapeutic ultrasound (US) were researched in many studies on patients with CTS with conflicting results. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of continuous and pulsed US treatments by ultrasonographic imaging in addition to clinical and electrophysilogical parameters in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). METHOD: Fifty-four patients with idiopathic CTS were randomly divided into three groups. All patients used night splints for two weeks. In addition to splint therapy, continuous, pulsed or sham US treatments were applied to patients 10 min/session, 5 sessions/week for two weeks. Clinical situation (pain, hand function,…strength), electrophysiological studies (motor distal latency, MDL, sensorial distal latency, SDL), and ultrasonographic area measurements of median nerve were evaluated. All evaluations were applied at pretreatment (baseline), posttreatment (2 nd week) and in the 6 th week. RESULTS: Whereas significant differences were detected for clinical, functional and ultrasonographic imaging findings in each group in the 2 nd week and 6 th week compared to baseline (p < 0.0167 for both), no electrophysiological improvements were detected in pulsed-US (p > 0.0167) and only improvement for SDL in sham US group in the 2 nd week evaluation (p < 0.0167). CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, continuous, pulsed or sham US treatments combined with splinting had similar effects on clinical, electrophysiological and ultrasonographic imaging improvements. Additionally, ultrasonographic imaging may be a preferable objective evaluation tool to prove the early posttreatment clinical improvements when electrophysiological changes could not be detected.
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Abstract: BACKGROUND: Most methods assessing soft tissue stiffness are associated with high costs and considerable technical effort. A previous study demonstrated that the tissue compliance meter represents an affordable alternative with straightforward handling. However, little data exists describing its measurement properties. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to elucidate the reliability and validity of a semi-electronic tissue compliance meter (STCM). METHODS: Tissue stiffness at the lateral calf was examined in 34 healthy participants (24 ± 5 yrs, 21 men). Measurements on two consecutive days were used to estimate test-retest reliability, day-to-day reliability and inter-rater reliability. Validity was…examined twofold. Firstly, STCM data were correlated with those of another method, the myotonometry. Secondly, STCM measurements at different levels of isometric contraction (M.gastrocnemius) were examined for systematic differences. RESULTS: Intraclass correlations (ICC) revealed high test-retest reliability (ICC 0.84, 95% CI: 0.70 to 0.92; p < 0.05) and day-to-day reliability (0.84, 0.71 to 0.92; p < 0.05). Inter-rater reliability was sufficient to good (0.75, 0.56 to 0.87; p < 0.05). Cross-validation with myotonometry revealed a strong correlation of both methods (r = 0.86; p < 0.05). Stiffness assessments during isometric contraction demonstrated that the STCM can discriminate different force levels (χ 2 = 57.1, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The STCM provides valid and reliable measurements of tissue stiffness. Further study is needed to provide norm values for different body regions and to reveal alterations in patients with musculoskeletal disorders.
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Keywords: Soft tissue, tissue hardness, elasticity, muscle tone
Abstract: Dysferlinopathies encompass a group of neuromuscular diseases characterized by the absence of dysferlin in skeletal muscle. It is a genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the dysferlin gene (DYSF) with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. In this article, we report a case of Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B with a rare homozygous duplication c.164dupA, p.(Ile57Hisfs*8) (rs863225020) in DYSF in a Saudi patient. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case from Saudi Arabia with complete clinical data, pathology findings, radiology findings, and genetic analysis. Although there is no curative treatment for this disease, an accurate…diagnosis is important to avoid using steroids and immunosuppressive medications, which are not effective and may have several side effects. Further studies are needed to explore potential therapies for this rare condition.
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Keywords: Dysferlinopathy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B, muscular dystrophy, Saudi Arabia