Local metabolic changes are suggested to be involved in muscle pain development in humans. Nineteen women with chronic work-related trapezius myalgia (TM) and 20 healthy female controls (CON) were studied during baseline rest, 20 min repetitive low-force exercise, and 120 min recovery. Interstitial serotonin (5-HT), glutamate, lactate, pyruvate, and blood flow were determined by microdialysis in the trapezius muscle. Baseline pressure pain threshold (PPT) was lower (143+/-18 (TM) vs. 269+/-17 (CON)kPa) (mean+/-SEM), pain intensity (visual analogue scale, VAS) higher (33+/-5 vs. 2+/-1mm), muscle 5-HT higher (22.9+/-6.7 vs. 3.8+/-1.3 nmol/l), and glutamate higher (47+/-3 vs. 36+/-4 micromol/l) in TM than in CON (all P<0.05), whereas muscle blood flow was similar in groups. Furthermore, muscle pyruvate was higher (180+/-15 vs. 135+/-12 micromol/l) and lactate higher (4.4+/-0.3 vs. 3.1+/-0.3 mmol/l) in TM than in CON (P<0.001). In response to exercise, VAS and glutamate increased in both TM and CON (all P<0.05). In TM only, lactate and pyruvate increased significantly (P<0.02), whereas blood flow increased to similar levels in both groups. During the initial 20 min recovery period, blood flow remained increased in TM (P<0.005) whereas it decreased to baseline levels in CON. In conclusion, patients with chronic work-related TM have increased levels of muscle 5-HT and glutamate that were correlated to pain intensity (r=0.55, P<0.001) and PPT (r=-0.47, P<0.001), respectively. In addition, TM was associated with increased anaerobic metabolism, whereas a normal rise in blood flow was seen with exercise. These findings indicate that peripheral nociceptive processes are active in work-related TM.
We conducted a prospective randomized study to investigate predictive factors for short- and long-term outcome of anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) as measured by current pain intensity on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and by disability using the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Current understanding about how preoperative and short-term outcome data predict long-term outcome is sparse, and there are few studies involving analysis of short-term follow-up using multivariate approaches with quantification of the relative importance of each variable studied. A total of 95 patients were randomly allocated for ACDF with the cervical intervertebral fusion cage or the Cloward procedure. The mean follow-up time was 19 months (range 12-24) for short-term follow-up and 76 months (range 56-94 months) for long-term. Background factors, radiologically detected findings, physiological measurements, treatment type, pain, and disability were used as potential predictors. Multivariate statistical analysis by projection to latent structures was used to investigate predictors of importance for short- and long-term outcome of ACDF. A "preoperative" low disability and pain intensity, non-smoking status, male sex, good hand strength, and an active range of motion (AROM) in the neck were significant predictors for good short- and long-term outcomes. The short-term outcome data were better at predicting long-term outcome than were baseline data. Radiologically detected findings and surgical technique used were mainly insignificant as predictors. We suggest that the inclusion criteria for ACDF should be based on a bio-psycho-social model including NDI. NDI may also be regarded as an important outcome measurement in evaluation of ACDF.
These results, achieved in vivo with ultrasonographic speckle tracking, indicated complex dynamic differences in different layers of the Achilles tendon, which could have implications for the understanding of healing processes of tendon pathologies and also of normal tendon function.
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