Annals of rehabilitation medicine
-
To compare tongue thickness, the shortest hyoid-thyroid approximation (distance between the hyoid bone and thyroid cartilage), and the time interval between the initiation of tongue movement and the time of the shortest hyoid-thyroid approximation, by using ultrasonography in healthy controls and patients with Parkinson disease (PD). ⋯ Ultrasonography can be useful in evaluating dysphagia in patients with PD by direct visualization and measurement of the hyoid bone. Moreover, ultrasonography might contribute to a greater understanding of the pathophysiology of dysphagia in PD.
-
To evaluate at which pH level various local anesthetics precipitate, and to confirm which combination of corticosteroid and local anesthetic crystallizes. ⋯ Ropivacaine and bupivacaine can precipitate by alkalinization at a physiological pH, and therefore also produce crystals at a physiological pH when they are mixed with betamethasone sodium phosphate. Thus, the potential risk should be noted for their use in interventions, such as epidural steroid injections.
-
To investigate the efficacy of percutaneous adhesiolysis (PA) compared to fluoroscopy (FL)-guided transforaminal epidural steroid injection (TFESI) in patients with radicular pain caused by lumbar foraminal spinal stenosis (LFSS) by assessing pain relief and functional improvement at 4 and 12 weeks post-procedure. ⋯ Our study suggests that PA is effective for pain reduction and functional improvement in patients with chronic radicular pain caused by LFSS. Therefore, PA can be considered for patients with previous ineffective responses to conservative treatment. Although PA seems to be more effective than TFEFI according to the results of our study, in order to fully elucidate the difference in effectiveness, a prospective study with a larger sample size is necessary.
-
To determine clinical and radiological factors that predict the successful outcome of percutaneous disc decompression (PDD) in patients with lumbar herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP). ⋯ PDD provided significant improvement of pain and disability of patients. The results of the analysis indicated that the duration of pain <6 months, positive straight leg raising test, the subarticular HNP, and the protruded HNP were predicting factors associated with the successful response of PDD in patients with lumbar HNP.
-
To investigate the relationship between grip and pinch strength and independence in activities of daily living (ADL) in stroke patients. ⋯ Stroke patients in subacute stage mainly performed activities of daily living using their dominant hand. However, independence in ADL was associated with the strength of the affected dominant hand. For stroke patients in chronic and late chronic stages, their hand power of the affected hand was associated with independence in ADL regardless whether the dominant hand was affected.