BackgroundDegenerative musculoskeletal disorders are among the most frequent diseases occurring in adulthood, often impairing patients' functional mobility and physical activity. The aim of the present study was to investigate and compare the impact of three frequent degenerative musculoskeletal disorders -- knee osteoarthritis (knee OA), hip osteoarthritis (hip OA) and lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) -- on patients' walking ability.MethodsThe study included 120 participants, with 30 in each patient group and 30 healthy control individuals. A uniaxial accelerometer, the StepWatch™ Activity Monitor (Orthocare Innovations, Seattle, Washington, USA), was used to determine the volume (number of gait cycles per day) and intensity (gait cycles per minute) of walking ability. Non-parametric testing was used for all statistical analyses.ResultsBoth the volume and the intensity of walking ability were significantly lower among the patients in comparison with the healthy control individuals (p < 0.001). Patients with LSS spent 0.4 (IQR 2.8) min/day doing moderately intense walking (>50 gait cycles/min), which was significantly lower in comparison with patients with knee and hip OA at 2.5 (IQR 4.4) and 3.4 (IQR 16.1) min/day, respectively (p < 0.001). No correlations between demographic or anthropometric data and walking ability were found. No technical problems or measuring errors occurred with any of the measurements.ConclusionsPatients with degenerative musculoskeletal disorders suffer limitations in their walking ability. Objective assessment of walking ability appeared to be an easy and feasible tool for measuring such limitations as it provides baseline data and objective information that are more precise than the patients' own subjective estimates. In everyday practice, objective activity assessment can provide feedback for clinicians regarding patients' performance during everyday life and the extent to which this confirms the results of clinical investigations. The method can also be used as a way of encouraging patients to develop a more active lifestyle.

Symptomatic degenerative central lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a frequent indication for decompressive spinal surgery, to reduce spinal claudication. No data are as yet available on the effect of surgery on the level of activity measured with objective long-term monitoring. The aim of this prospective, controlled study was to objectively quantify the level of activity in central LSS patients before and after surgery, using a continuous measurement device. The objective data were correlated with subjective clinical results and the radiographic degree of stenosis. Forty-seven patients with central LSS and typical spinal claudication scheduled for surgery were included. The level of activity (number of gait cycles) was quantified for 7 consecutive days using the StepWatch Activity Monitor (SAM). Visual analogue scales (VAS) for back and leg pain, Oswestry disability index and RolandMorris score were used to assess the patients' clinical status. The patients were investigated before surgery and 3 and 12 months after surgery. In addition, the radiographic extent of central LSS was measured digitally on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography. The following results were found preoperatively: 3,578 gait cycles/day, VAS for back pain 5.7 and for leg pain 6.5. Three months after surgery, the patients showed improvement: 4,145 gait cycles/day, VAS for back pain 4.0 and for leg pain 3.0. Twelve months after surgery, the improvement continued: 4,335 gait cycles/day, VAS for back pain 4.1 and for leg pain 3.3. The clinical results and SAM results showed significant improvement when preoperative data were compared with data 3 and 12 months after surgery. The results 12 months after surgery did not differ significantly from those 3 months after surgery. The level of activity correlated significantly with the degree of leg pain. The mean cross-sectional area of the spinal canal at the central LSS was 94 mm 2 . The radiographic results did not correlate either with objective SAM results or with clinical outcome parameters. In conclusion, this study is the first to present objective data on continuous activity monitoring/measurements in patients with central LSS. The SAM could be an adequate tool for performing these measurements in spine patients. Except for leg pain, the objective SAM results did not correlate with the clinical results or with the radiographic extent of central LSS.

BackgroundLymph node (LN) staging in penile cancer has strong prognostic implications. This contrasts with the high morbidity of extended inguinal LN dissection (LND) or over-treatment of many patients. Therefore, inguinal dynamic sentinel node biopsy (DSNB) or modified LND is recommended by the European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines to evaluate the nodal status of patients with clinically node-negative penile cancer. This study analyzed the reliability and morbidity of radioguided DSNB in penile cancer under consideration of the current EAU recommendations in an experienced center with long-term follow-up.MethodsThirty-four patients who received primary surgery and had radioguided inguinal DSNB for penile cancer (≥T1G2) were included (July 2004 to July 2013). Preoperative sentinel LN (SLN) mapping was performed using lymphoscintigraphy after peritumoral injection of 99mTechnetium nanocolloid on the day of surgery. During surgery, SLNs were detected using a gamma probe. According to the EAU guidelines, a secondary ipsilateral radical inguinal LND was performed in patients who had positive SLNs. The false-negative and complication rates of DSNB were assessed.ResultsA total of 32 patients were analyzed. Two patients were lost to follow-up. A total of 166 SLNs (median, 5; range, 1–15) were removed and 216 LNs (SLNs + non-SLNs; median, 6; range, 2–19) were dissected. LN metastases were found in five of the 32 (15.6 %) patients and nine of the 166 (5.4 %) SLNs were found to contain metastases. None of the remaining 50 non-SLNs contained metastases. In only one of the five SLN-positive patients, a singular further metastasis was detected by secondary radical inguinal LND. During follow-up (median, 30.5; range, 5–95 months) no inguinal nodal recurrence was detected. DSNB-related complications occurred in 11.1 % of explored groins.Discussion and ConclusionsRadioguided DSNB is a suitable procedure for LN staging in penile cancer considering the EAU recommendations and with the required experience. Under these circumstances, patients can be spared from higher morbidity without compromising the detection of LN metastases or therapeutic implications. Improvement of the methodology used to perform DSNB should be developed further to decrease the risk of missing LN metastases and to simplify the procedure.