The absence of a significant difference between the two groups in the assessment parameters has been interpreted as evidence that electromagnetic field treatment does not provide additional benefit to calcitonin and exercise treatment.

No abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the sensory, motor and functional improvement in patients with a Spinal Cord Lesion (SCL) by recording at admission, discharge and at 12 months after discharge. Fifty-®ve patients (29 with paraplegia and 26 with tetraplegia) admitted to our departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation between December 1992 ± 1995. Three patients were excluded as they did not give their consent. Each patient was evaluated at admission, before discharge and at 12 months after discharge. Motor status was evaluated by the motor score (MS), sensory status by the light touch score (LTS), and functional status by the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) score. Each patient was asked to complete a patient questionnaire which was developed according to the standards of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) scale. Twelve patients (10 with paraplegia and two with tetraplegia) were evaluated at 12 months after discharge. Paired samples t-test was used for statistical analysis. The mean age of the patients group was 36.42+17.70 years, the mean duration of inpatient rehabilitation was 93.87+44.95 days. The SCL was due to trauma in 45 patients, 86.50% of the cases and was complete in nine patients (17.30%) and incomplete in 19 (36.53%) with paraplegia. Six tetraplegic patients (11.53%) had complete and 18 had (34.61%) incomplete lesions. The evaluation of MS, LTS and FIM scores at admission and discharge showed signi®cant improvement in the MS and LTS in all of the patients with incomplete lesions (P50.001). FIM scores showed signi®cant improvement only in those with complete or incomplete paraplegia (P50.05). At 12 months follow-up there was no signi®cant change in the MS and the LTS whereas a signi®cant change was noted in the FIM scores (P50.05) in 10 paraplegic patients. In summary, the results of this study indicate that rehabilitation was e ective in our SCL series although the signi®cant gain may also be attributed to the fact that 71.1% of the study group had incomplete neurological lesions.

Bu çalışmada, hafif karpal tünel sendromu (KTS) tedavisinde bazı konservatif yöntemlerle birlikte uygulanan deksametazon iyontoforezi veya ultrason veya plasebo iyontoforezin (deksametazonsuz) etkinliği karşılaştırıldı. Hastalar ve yöntemler: Elektromiyografi ile doğrulanmış hafif KTS tanılı 58 hasta çalışmaya dahil edildi. Hastalar rastgele üç gruba ayrıldı: (i) deksametazon iyontoforezi ile tedavi edilen iyontoforez grubu (n=20); (ii) ultrason ile tedavi edilen grup (n=20) ve (iii) plasebo iyontoforezi uygulananlar (n=18). Bu tedavilerden biri, tüm hastalara üç aylık tendon ve sinir kaydırma egzersizleri, gece splinti ve aktivite modifikasyonları gibi fizyoterapi prosedürleri ile beraber 15 seans uygulandı. Tedavinin başında, tedavi sonunda ve tedavi bitiminden sonra takip sırasında 3. ayda el bileği eklem hareket açıklığı ve kas testleri, Görsel Analog Skalası (VAS), el sıkma testi, pinçmetre ölçümleri, monofilaman ile duyu testleri, iki nokta diskriminasyon testi, Phalen, ters Phalen, Tinel ve karpal kompresyon testleri, Sağlık Değerlendirme Anketi (HAQ), Boston Sorgulama Anketi (BQ) ve elektrofizyolojik ölçümler değerlendirildi. İstatistiksel analiz SPSS (versiyon 10.0, Windows) yazılımı kullanılarak yapıldı. Bulgular: Çalışma sonunda tüm grupların klinik değerlendirmelerinde istatistiksel olarak anlamlı iyileşmeler görüldü (p≤0.05). Ultrason ve plasebo grubu ile karşılaştırıldığında, iyontoforez grubunda daha başarılı sonuçlar alındı; KTS'li hastaların üç ay sonraki takiplerinde pinçmetre, monofilaman, iki nokta diskriminasyon testleri ve BQ skorlarında istatistiksel anlamlı iyileşme gözlemlendi (p≤0.05). İyontoforez ve ultrason grubunda yapılan elektrofizyolojik ölçümlerde de, istatistiksel olarak anlamlı iyileşmeler kaydedildi (p≤0.05). Sonuç: Bu çalışmanın sonuçları, hafif KTS'li hastaların deksametazon iyontoforezi, tendon kaydırma egzersizleri, splint ve aktivite modifikasyonu ile beraber tedavisinin güvenilir ve etkili olduğunu önermektedir. Ancak, bulgularımızı destekleyen daha geniş ölçekli başka çalışmalara da ihtiyaç vardır. Anahtar sözcükler: Karpal tünel sendromu; deksametazon iyontoforezi; egzersiz; splintleme; ultrason. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to compare the efficacy of some conservative methods in combination with dexamethasone iontophoresis, ultrasound therapy or placebo iontophoresis (without dexamethasone) in the treatment of mild carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Patients and methods: Fifty-eight patients diagnosed with mild CTS confirmed by electromyography were included in the study. The subjects were divided randomly into three groups: (i) iontophoresis group-treated with dexamethasone iontophoresis (n=20); (ii) ultrasound group-treated with ultrasound (n=20), and (iii) placebo group-treated with placebo iontophoresis (n=18). All patients received one of these treatments in 15 sessions for three months in combination with physiotherapeutic procedures, such as tendon/nerve gliding exercises, night splinting and activity modifications. Wrist range of motion, muscle test, the Visu...

In conclusion, our results suggest that both sympathetic and parasympathetic functions in post-stroke survivors were partially inhibited, and this finding may be useful in the prediction of possible complications during rehabilitation.

The objective of this study was to compare the MRI findings of wrists in patients diagnosed with CTS with those of the healthy controls, and to evaluate the correlation between the MRI differences and the electrophysiological findings in the patient group. This study involved 55 wrists, 30 of which were clinically and electrophysiologically diagnosed with CTS and 25 healthy controls. These 55 wrists were evaluated electrophysiologically, and in terms of median nerve diameter, ratio of median nerve diameter at psiform bone level to distal radio-ulnar joint level, the flexor retinaculum bulging ratio and the median nerve intensity by MRI. When the patient group, which were clinically and electrophysiologically diagnosed with CTS, and the healthy control group were compared, a significant difference (p < 0.001) was observed between the two in terms of median nerve diameters (at psiform bone level: 8.47 +/- 1.41mm and 2.91 +/- 1.01 mm, distal radio-ulnar joint level: 4.04 +/- 1.06 mm and 2.42 +/- 0.95 mm), ratio of median nerve diameter at psiform bone level to distal radio-ulnar joint level (2.17 +/- 0.54 and 1.25 +/- 0.12), their flexor retinaculum bulging ratios (26.21 +/- 5.98% and 7.27 +/- 4.53%) and their median nerve intensities. In the patient group, no significant correlation between MRI and the electrophysiological findings was found (p > 0.05). According to the data obtained from the study, we believe that the MRI examination of structural changes that occur in the carpal tunnel, neighboring structures and the median nerve would be useful in the diagnosis of CTS, especially in cases with suspected clinical and electrophysiological diagnosis.

Various rating scales have been used to assess ability in individuals with spinal cord injury. There is no specific functional assessment scale for Turkish patients with spinal cord injury. The Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM) is a specific test, which has become popular in the last decade. A study was conducted to validate and evaluate the Turkish adaptation of the SCIM III (T-SCIM III). The SCIM III was translated into Turkish. Reliability, (internal consistency, interrater reliability, and test-retest reliability), validity (with Functional Independence Measurement), and sensitivity (changes in 8-week exercise program) were studied. Internal consistency for total score was sufficient (Cronbach α=0.79). The interrater reliability was moderate to high (Cohen κ between 0.72 and 1). Convergent validity was high (r=0.89, P<0.01). The T-SCIM III was found to be more sensitive than the Functional Independence Measurement to changes in function. Hence, we recommend the use of T-SCIM III in clinical practice as a reliable, valid, and easy-to-use tool.

No abstract