Masaoka stages III-IV, incomplete resection and non-thymoma histology showed a significant impact in increasing recurrence and in worsening survival. The administration of adjuvant therapy after complete resection is associated with improved survival.

ack pain is a common cause of disability and work loss, creating a large socioeconomic burden in developed countries. 17,26,32,45 Between 60% and 80% of adults will be affected with low back pain during their lifetime. 4,18 It has been reported that between 30% and 40% of individuals with acute low back pain never completely recover, developing chronic low back pain. 31,39 In addition to its high prevalence, the source of pain is not well-established in the majority of individuals with back pain, and the term "nonspecific low back pain" is often used to describe this population. 21,35,37 In recent years, there has been a growing number of reports on the benefits of Pilates-based exercises for low back pain. 7,13,14,20,24,29,42,43 Concomitantly, an increasing number of healthcare practitioners are using the Pilates-based approach for rehabilitation.3 Despite the limited number of randomized controlled trials investigating this exercise approach, proponents have claimed improved torso or core strength, with mentions of greater range of motion, muscle symmetry, flexibility, 42 spinal and joint mobility, and proprioception, balance, and coordination. 7,44 In a previous systematic review, La Touche et al 27 highlighted the importance of distinguishing Pilates-based exercises from the classic Pilates Method. The Pilates Method is an exercise form that has been popular for decades among choreographers and dance instructors in the field of dance medicine, T T OBJECTIVES:To compare pain and disability in individuals with persistent nonspecific low back pain who were treated with Pilates exercises compared to minimal or other interventions. T T METHODS: Searches of Medline, CINAHL,Embase, Cochrane library, PEDro, and ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis databases were conducted. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were selected and reviewed if they compared pain and disability in individuals with persistent nonspecific low back pain who were treated with Pilates exercises compared to other treatment approaches. Quality of the trials was evaluated. Data for pain and disability scores were extracted. Narrative synthesis plus meta-analyses were performed, with either a fixed-effects or random-effects model, standardized mean differences (SMDs), and tests for heterogeneity. T T RESULTS:Seven RCTs were identified and included in the meta-analyses. Data pooling was performed using RevMan 5. When compared to minimal intervention, Pilates-based exercise provided superior pain relief (pooled SMD, -2.72; 95% CI: -5.33, -0.11; P = .04) but the pooled disability scores were not significantly different (pooled SMD, -0.74; 95% CI: -1.81, 0.33; P = .17). No significant differences were found when comparing Pilates-based exercise to other forms of exercise for pain (pooled SMD, 0.03; 95% CI: -0.52, 0.58; P = .92) or disability scores (pooled SMD, -0.41; 95% CI: -0.96, 0.14; P = .14). T T CONCLUSION:Pilates-based exercises are superior to minimal intervention for pain relief. Existing evidence does not establish superiority of Pilates-based...

Kinesio taping is superior to minimal intervention for pain relief. Existing evidence does not establish the superiority of Kinesio taping to other treatment approaches to reduce pain and disability for individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Deficits in sensory and motor systems present bilaterally in unilateral tendinopathy. This implies potential central nervous system involvement. This indicates that rehabilitation should consider the contralateral side of patients. Research of unilateral tendinopathy needs to consider comparison against pain-free controls in addition to the contralateral side to gain a complete understanding of sensory and motor features.

Chronic musculoskeletal conditions are increasingly conceived as involving altered central nervous system processing, and impaired nociceptive flexor reflex (NFR) appears to reflect altered central nervous system processing. The primary objective was to synthesize the evidence for impaired NFR in these conditions. The secondary objective was to evaluate the NFR stimuli parameters employed by reviewed studies. Electronic databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PEDro, Google Scholar, and Cochrane library were searched from the mid-1960s to June 2010. Experimental reports were systematically reviewed and meta-analysis (where possible) was performed. NFR thresholds and parameters of NFR stimuli were extracted. Sixteen trials were identified, 11 of which were suitable for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Compared to healthy controls, standardized mean differences in NFR threshold were significantly lower in subjects with primary headache (-0.45; 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.77 to -0.13, P=0.005), fibromyalgia (-0.63; 95% CI -0.93 to -0.34, P<0.0001), knee pain (-1.51; 95% CI -2.10 to -0.93, P<0.00001) and whiplash (-0.73; 95% CI -1.11 to -0.35, P=0.0002). Employed stimuli parameters vary between studies, with inter-pulse duration (P=0.044) being identified by multiple regression analysis as independent predictors of the variability in NFR threshold in healthy controls. The results indicate that there is evidence of central hyperexcitability in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Our review also suggests that shorter inter-pulse duration tends to yield smaller variability in NFR threshold. However, further research investigating optimal stimulation parameters is still warranted.

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Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for morbid obesity and its metabolic related comorbidities; type 2 diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia. However, the literature is scarce regarding the long-term outcome after bariatric surgery, especially among multi-ethnic Asian populations. Considering the growing number of bariatric metabolic surgeries in Asia, we have attempted to provide a regional perspective on 5-year long-term clinical outcomes post bariatric surgery in Singapore. Between 2010 and 2016, all bariatric operative cases were included, and these comprised: laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), 393; laparoscopic Roux-En-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), 125; laparoscopic mini-gastric bypass (MGB), 43. The primary outcome measure was the percentage of excess weight loss (% EWL) at 6 months, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years, with % remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at 1 year following LSG (49.7%, 61.2%, 56.1%, 47.8%, 40.8% and 47.3%; 82.2%), RYGB (60.2%, 62.1%, 57.6%, 50.1%, 48.7% and 47.7%; 86.9%) and MGB (58%, 68.1%, 62.7%, 66.2%, 64.0%, 65.2%; 71.9%). In conclusion, MGB and RYGB showed the greatest % EWL at 5 years and are recommended for moderate T2DM. LSG is an effective bariatric operation with a high % EWL up to 2 years, and a high remission rate of mild T2DM. The remission rate of T2DM was equally high in all 3 surgical groups, independent of ethnic differences.