Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy
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Comparative Study
Feasibility and effectiveness of pre-operative inspiratory muscle training in patients undergoing oesophagectomy: a pilot study.
Patients undergoing oesophageal surgery have a high risk for post-operative complications including pulmonary infections. Recently, physical therapy has shifted from the post-operative to the pre-operative phase to diminish post-operative complications and to shorten hospital stay. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the feasibility and initial effectiveness of pre-operative inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on the incidence of pneumonia in patients undergoing oesophagectomy. ⋯ Pre-operative IMT is feasible in patients with oesophageal carcinoma and significantly improves respiratory muscle function. This, however, did not result in a reduction of post-operative pneumonia in patients undergoing oesophagectomy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Characterizing the protocol for early modified constraint-induced movement therapy in the EXPLICIT-stroke trial.
Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) is a commonly used rehabilitation intervention to improve upper limb function after stroke. CIMT was originally developed for patients with a chronic upper limb paresis. Although there are indications that exercise interventions should start as early as possible after stroke, only a few randomized controlled trials have been published on either CIMT or modified forms of CIMT (mCIMT) during the acute phase after stroke. ⋯ The intervention starts within 2 weeks after stroke onset. The protocol retains two of the three key elements of the original CIMT protocol, that is, repetitive training and the constraining element. Repetitive task training is applied for 1 hour per working day, and the patients wear a mitt for at least 3 hours per day for three consecutive weeks.