European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society
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Exercise rehabilitation is one of the few evidence-based treatments for chronic non-specific low back pain (cLBP), but individual success is notoriously variable and may depend on the patient's adherence to the prescribed exercise regime. This prospective study examined factors associated with adherence and the relationship between adherence and outcome after a programme of physiotherapeutic spine stabilisation exercises. A total of 32/37 patients with cLBP completed the study (mean age, 44.0 (SD = 12.3) years; 11/32 (34%) male). ⋯ The benefits of rehabilitation depended to a large extent on the patient's exercise behaviour outside of the formal physiotherapy sessions. Hence, more effort should be invested in finding ways to improve patients' motivation to take responsibility for the success of their own therapy, perhaps by increasing exercise self-efficacy. Whether the "adherence-outcome" interaction was mediated by improvements in function related to the specific exercises, or by a more "global" effect of the programme, remains to be examined.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of neuropathic pain and neuronal apoptosis following nerve root or spinal nerve compression.
Altered dorsal root ganglion (DRG) function is associated with neuropathic pain following spinal nerve injury. However, compression of the cauda equina and dorsal rhizotomy proximal to the DRG do not induce significant pain, whereas in the spinal nerve and peripheral nerve, injury distal to the DRG does induce neuropathic pain. Caspase signaling induces apoptosis, and caspase inhibitors prevent pain-related behavior. ⋯ DRG apoptosis in the distal crush group was significantly higher than in the proximal group at each time point (P < 0.05). This study suggests that spinal nerve crush injuries produce a greater degree of DRG apoptosis than do corresponding nerve root crush injuries, and that the former injuries are associated with longer lasting mechanical allodynia. Thus, differences in the time course of mechanical allodynia might be associated with an imbalance in DRG apoptosis.
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The objective of this study was to evaluate the coronal alignment of the thoracic spine in persons with dextrocardia. Generally, the thoracic spine is slightly curved to the right. It has been suggested that the curve could be triggered by pulsation forces from the descending aorta. ⋯ The difference (mean 11.8 degrees , SD 3.5) differed significantly from unity (P = 0.00003). In conclusion, it seems that a slight left convexity of the thoracic spine is frequent in dextrocardia. We assume that the effect of the repetitive pulsatile pressure of the descending thoracic aorta, and the mass effect of the heart may cause the direction of the convexity to develop opposite to the side of the aortic arch.