CORR Insights®: Is There a Disadvantage to Early Physical Therapy After Multiligament Surgery for Knee Dislocation? A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract Background: Frozen shoulder (FS) is a prevalent musculoskeletal condition characterized by an often prolonged pain, disability and limited active and passive range of motion (ROM), however its management remains challenging yet. The objective of this trial was to compare the efficacy of acromioclavicular joint mobilization and physical therapy versus physical therapy in treatment of FS.Methods: In this single-blind randomized clinical trial, patients with diagnosis of FS were randomly allocated into mobilization + physical therapy (n=28) as experiment group, and physical therapy (n=28) as control group in two outpatient clinics of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The primary outcomes were self-reported shoulder pain-related disability measured by the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) questionnaire and goniometric assessment of shoulder ROM. The secondary outcome was the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Measures were performed at the baseline, immediately and one month after beginning the treatments.Results: Totally 51 patients with 25.73 ± 6.88 years old of age completed the study and their data were analyzed. VAS, SPADI, pain and disability improved more significantly in experiment group compared to control group immediately [-4.63 (-5.58- -3.67) vs. -2.22 (-2.96- -1.47), p<0.001; -23.08 (-28.63- -17.53) vs. -13.04 (-17.93- -8.16), p=0.008; -26.00 (-31.71- -20.29) vs. -16.35 (-23.39- -9.31), p=0.034 and -21.25 (-29.11- -13.39) vs. -10.98 (-17.53- -4.43), p=0.042, respectively] and one month after beginning of treatment [-5.58 (-6.45- -4.72) vs. -3.61 (-4.60- -2.62), p<0.001; -33.43 (-40.85- -26.01) vs. -20.03 (-26.00- -14.07), p=0.001; --42.83 (-49.09- -36.57) vs. -25.57 (-33.92- -17.21), p<0.001 and -27.55 (-36.19- -15.94) vs. -16.58 (-24.48- -8.67), p=0.041, respectively]. Active abduction ROM was also improved more significantly immediately after treatment in experiment group compared to control group [25.83 (11.45- 40.13) vs. 10.17 (1.02- 19.15), p=0.025], however there were no significant differences between two groups concerning other measured ROMs immediately and one month after treatment (all p>0.05). Conclusions: Acromioclavicular mobilization along with conventional physical therapy was more efficient in decreasing pain and disability and improving active abduction ROM compared to physical therapy in patients with FS. These findings would suggest a new therapeutic method for shoulder disorders with pain and disability.Trial registrationwww.irct.ir, IRCT20100605004104N7, registered 06.01.2019 (https://www.irct.ir/trial/35900)

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Telemanagement of Home-Isolated COVID-19 Patients Using Oxygen Therapy With Noninvasive Positive Pressure Ventilation and Physical Therapy Techniques: Randomized Clinical Trial (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.23446 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Aya Sedky Adly ◽

Mahmoud Sedky Adly ◽

Afnan Sedky Adly

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Clinical Trial ◽

Physical Therapy ◽

Randomized Clinical Trial ◽

Health Care System ◽

Oxygen Therapy ◽

Early Stage ◽

Home Based ◽

Group A ◽

Group B

BACKGROUND With the growing stress on hospitals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for home-based solutions has become a necessity to support these overwhelmed hospitals. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to compare two nonpharmacological respiratory treatment methods for home-isolated COVID-19 patients using a newly developed telemanagement health care system. METHODS In this single-blinded randomized clinical trial, 60 patients with stage 1 pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection were treated. Group A (n=30) received oxygen therapy with bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) ventilation, and Group B (n=30) received osteopathic manipulative respiratory and physical therapy techniques. Arterial blood gases of PaO2 and PaCO2, pH, vital signs (ie, temperature, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and blood pressure), and chest computed tomography scans were used for follow-up and for assessment of the course and duration of recovery. RESULTS Analysis of the results showed a significant difference between the two groups (P<.05), with Group A showing shorter recovery periods than Group B (mean 14.9, SD 1.7 days, and mean 23.9, SD 2.3 days, respectively). Significant differences were also observed between baseline and final readings in all of the outcome measures in both groups (P<.05). Regarding posttreatment satisfaction with our proposed telemanagement health care system, positive responses were given by most of the patients in both groups. CONCLUSIONS It was found that home-based oxygen therapy with BiPAP can be a more effective prophylactic treatment approach than osteopathic manipulative respiratory and physical therapy techniques, as it can impede exacerbation of early-stage COVID-19 pneumonia. Telemanagement health care systems are promising methods to help in the pandemic-related shortage of hospital beds, as they showed reasonable effectiveness and reliability in the monitoring and management of patients with early-stage COVID-19 pneumonia. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04368923; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04368923

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Changes in Pain Catastrophizing and Fear-Avoidance Beliefs as Mediators of Early Physical Therapy on Disability and Pain in Acute Low-Back Pain: A Secondary Analysis of a Clinical Trial

Pain Medicine ◽

10.1093/pm/pnab292 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Brittany L Sisco-Taylor ◽

John S Magel ◽

Molly McFadden ◽

Tom Greene ◽

Jincheng Shen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trial ◽

Low Back Pain ◽

Back Pain ◽

Physical Therapy ◽

Pain Catastrophizing ◽

Low Back ◽

Fear Avoidance ◽

Fear Avoidance Beliefs ◽

Acute Low Back Pain ◽

Early Physical Therapy

Abstract Objective The Fear-Avoidance Model of chronic pain (FAM) posits that pain catastrophizing and fear-avoidance beliefs are prognostic for disability and chronicity. In acute low-back pain, early physical therapy (PT) is effective in reducing disability in some patients. How early PT impacts short- and long-term changes in disability for patients with acute pain is unknown. Based on the FAM, we hypothesized that early reductions in pain catastrophizing and fear-avoidance beliefs would mediate early PT’s effect on changes in disability (primary outcome) and pain intensity (secondary outcome) over 3 months and 1 year. Subjects Participants were 204 patients with low-back pain of < 16 days duration, who enrolled in a clinical trial (NCT01726803) comparing early PT sessions or usual care provided over 4 weeks. Methods Patients completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ work and physical activity scales) and outcomes (Oswestry Disability Index and Numeric Pain Rating Scale) at baseline, 4 weeks, 3 months, and 1 year. We applied longitudinal mediation analysis with single and multiple mediators. Results Early PT led to improvements in disability and pain over 3 months, but not 1 year. In the single mediator model, four-week reductions in pain catastrophizing mediated early PT’s effects on 3-month disability and pain intensity improvements, explaining 16% and 22% of the association, respectively, but the effects were small. Pain catastrophizing and fear-avoidance beliefs did not jointly mediate these associations. Conclusions In acute low-back pain, early PT may improve disability and pain outcomes at least partly through reducing patients’ catastrophizing.

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