Manual therapy
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Muscle therapy, a form of manual therapy, was applied to control pain persisting for more than 1 week following posterolateral thoracotomy, and its efficacy for the alleviation of pain was investigated. Eight patients who underwent posterolateral thoracotomy and lung resection for cancer (n=7) or emphysema (n=1) received manual therapy to incised muscles and the muscles inserting into the ribs in the affected area for an average of 17 days postoperatively. Pressure-friction and stretching techniques were used. ⋯ Pain severity was measured using a visual analog scale (VAS) (0-10). Before the first treatment, the VAS was set at 10, and changes of the score were observed before and after the treatment as well as over time. After three sessions, all patients showed a decrease in pain from 10 to an average of 1.9 (range 1.3-2.6).
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The transition from acute to chronic low back pain (LBP) is influenced by many interacting factors. Pain-related fear, as measured by the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) and the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ), is one of these factors. The objectives of this study were to investigate, in a population with acute LBP, the reliability of TSK and FABQ through evaluation of the internal consistency, the test-retest reliability, and the concurrent validity between TSK and FABQ. ⋯ Concurrent validity is moderate, ranging from r(s) =0.33 to 0.59 (P<0.01). It may be concluded that in a population with acute LBP, both the TSK and the FABQ are reliable measures of pain-related fear. In the clinical setting they may provide the practitioner a means of identifying pain-related fear in a patient with acute LBP.
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An evidence-based clinical practice guideline was developed to ascertain the risks and benefits for manipulation or mobilization in treating mechanical neck disorders with or without radicular findings or cerviogenic headache. Pain, function, patient satisfaction and adverse events were appraised. ⋯ Stronger evidence suggests a multi-modal management strategy using mobilization or manipulation plus exercise is beneficial for relief of mechanical neck pain. Weaker evidence suggest less benefit to either manipulation/mobilization done alone than when used with exercise. The risk rate is uncertain.
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Neck disorders are common, disabling and costly. Randomized trials were reviewed using a Cochrane format, to determine if manual therapy improves pain, function and patient satisfaction in adults suffering from neck disorders with and without radicular findings or headache. Sequenced computerized searches ended in December 1997. ⋯ For mechanical neck disorder with or without headache, it appears that to be most beneficial, manual therapies should be done with exercise for improving pain and patient satisfaction. Manipulation and mobilization alone appear to be less effective. Factorial design would help delineate the magnitude of effect for each component of care.
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Involvement of nerve tissue may contribute to the persistence of pain following a whiplash injury. This study aimed to investigate responses to the brachial plexus provocation test (BPPT) in 156 subjects with chronic whiplash associated disorder (WAD) with and without associated arm pain and 95 asymptomatic control subjects. The range of elbow extension (ROM) and visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores were measured. ⋯ Within the whiplash population, subjects whose arm pain was reproduced by the BPPT demonstrated significantly less ROM on both the symptomatic and asymptomatic sides when compared to the whiplash subjects whose arm pain was not reproduced by the BPPT (P=0.003) and significantly less ROM and higher VAS scores than those whiplash subjects with no arm pain (P=0.003, 0.01). Only the whiplash subjects whose arm pain was reproduced by the BPPT demonstrated differences between the symptomatic and asymptomatic sides. These generalized hyperalgesic responses to the BPPT support the hypothesis of central nervous system hypersensitivity as contributing to persistent pain experienced by WAD patients.