In response to requests from physiotherapists for guidance on optimal stimulation of muscle using neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), a review, synthesis, and extraction of key data from the literature was undertaken by six Canadian physical therapy (PT) educators, clinicians, and researchers in the field of electrophysical agents. The objective was to identify commonly treated conditions for which there was a substantial body of literature from which to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of NMES. Included studies had to apply NMES with visible and tetanic muscle contractions. Four electronic databases (CINAHL, Embase, PUBMED, and SCOPUS) were searched for relevant literature published between database inceptions until May 2015. Additional articles were identified from bibliographies of the systematic reviews and from personal collections. The extracted data were synthesized using a consensus process among the authors to provide recommendations for optimal stimulation parameters and application techniques to address muscle impairments associated with the following conditions: stroke (upper or lower extremity; both acute and chronic), anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, patellofemoral pain syndrome, knee osteoarthritis, and total knee arthroplasty as well as critical illness and advanced disease states. Summaries of key details from each study incorporated into the review were also developed. The final sections of the article outline the recommended terminology for describing practice using electrical currents and provide tips for safe and effective clinical practice using NMES. This article provides physiotherapists with a resource to enable evidence-informed, effective use of NMES for PT practice.

The purpose of this study was to determine the learning styles and problem-solving ability of physiotherapy students. The subjects were 158 students from years 2 to 4 of a baccalaureate physiotherapy programme. All subjects completed the Kolb Learning Style Inventory ( LSI) and were classified into one of four learning styles. They also completed the Heppner Problem Solving Inventory ( PSI) , for which a total score and three subscale scores were calculated. Chi-square and one-way analyses of variance were used to determine differences between years for the LSI and PSI respectively. The association between the PSI and LSI was determined with an eta coefficient. The majority of students had the preferred learning style of`assimilator' or`converger' . The scores on the PSI were similar to those reported for other undergraduate students, and were not related to learning style. There were no significant differences between years for the LSI or the PSI score. We conclude that physiotherapy students in a baccalaureate programme prefer a learning style in which they combine abstract conceptualisation ( thinking) with either reflective observation ( watching and listening) or active experimentation ( doing) . Neither learning style nor perceived problem-solving ability was different across years.

Abstract. The cellular effects of pulsed and continuous ultrasound on the protein content of muscle after trauma were determined in this study. Rats were subjected to a single impact trauma to the gastrocnemius. Six major treatment groups were employed: (1) uninjured control, (2) injured control, (3) & (4) uninjured ultrasound treated, and (5) & (6) injured ultrasound treated. The ultrasound treated groups were subdivided into continuous ultrasound, and pulsed ultrasound treatments (dosage = 1.0 watts/cm 2 × 5 min), which were given from day 2 to day 7 post-trauma once daily. Animals were sacrificed at 1, 3 and 7 days, the medial gastrocnemius muscle being dissected and solubilized for protein content determination. On day 7 the control injured group had a statistically greater mean protein content than the injured continuous ultrasound treatment group, and the mean protein content of the injured pulsed ultrasound treatment group was statistically greater than both the injured control or the injured continuous ultrasound treatment groups (one way ANOVA, P<0.05). The means of all three uninjured control groups were not significantly different at day 1 or 7. Within each group, only the control injured (18% or 44 mg increase ± 17 mg) and the injured pulsed ultrasound treatment (7% or 22 mg increase ± 9 mg) groups showed statistically significant changes (95% Confidence Interval) in protein content from day 1 to day 7. All other treatment groups showed no statistically significant increases.