The effect of therapeutic exercise and vegan diet on pain and quality of life in young female patients with chronic non-specific neck pain

Background and purpose In recent years, dietary practices have begun to be used in painful conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a vegan diet and therapeutic exercise in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain. Materials and methods A total of 45 young female patients with chronic non-specific neck pain, aged 18–25 years, participated in the study. Body mass index and body fat percentage were measured with bioelectrical impedance analysis. Pain severity was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale, quality of life with the short form-36 scale, kinesiophobia with the Tampa scale of kinesiophobia and neck disability with the Neck Disability Index. Results The pain severity reduced in the diet group and exercise group after treatment (p = 0.001). After treatment, Neck Disability Index score decreased in the diet group and exercise group (p = 0.001). Tampa scale of kinesiophobia score decreased in the diet group and exercise group (p = 0.001). The eight domains of the short form-36 scale score increased in the diet group and exercise group (p < 0.05). No difference was found in the body mass index and fat percentage in all groups before and after treatment (p˃ 0.05). Conclusion A vegan diet and therapeutic exercise are beneficial to patients with chronic non-specific neck pain in terms of pain severity and quality of life.

Pelvic pain in Maigne’s syndrome—a multi-segmental approach

Background Maigne’s syndrome is a poorly understood condition that affects the thoracolumbar junction. The symptoms can range from pain in the low back, pelvis, hip, lower abdomen, and groin. These symptoms can have bio-mechanical and neurophysiological attributions due to the complexity of spinal mechanics. Thoraco-lumbar junction (T12-L1) is a transitional zone with a higher degree of mean angular motion and a mean translation motion than T10-T11 and T11-T12. This higher degree of translational and rotation mobility predisposes these segments to a higher degree of stress, making them more prone to biomechanical faults such as dysfunctions and positional faults. These altered static and dynamic mechanics can create a cascade of problems along the biomechanical chain. The co-existence of thoracolumbar junction problems with pelvic pain and dysfunctions strengthens the idea of regional interdependence. Case presentation The patient is a 44-year-old Caucasian male who reported pain in the low back with symptoms radiating to the right hip, iliac region, lower abdomen, and gluteal region. The patient tested positive for Sacroiliac joint dysfunction with both Laslett’s cluster testing and palpatory sacroiliac examination. In addition, the segmental examination showed restriction in thoracolumbar junction with positive skin rolling test and hypomobility in manual segmental testing. Thus, the manual therapy treatment targeted the thoracolumbar junction and sacroiliac joint to address the underlying biomechanical dysfunctions. Conclusions The manual therapy targeting both sacroiliac and thoracolumbar spine can improve pelvic and thoracic spine mobility. In addition, therapeutic exercises can focus on enhancing anterior and posterior chain force generation capacity. This combined approach helped improve functional outcomes with a significant decrease in the Modified Oswestry Disability index and significant improvement on Visual analog scale.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation among physiotherapists in Lebanon

Background Insufficient physical activity is one of the leading mortality risks worldwide for cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. Physiotherapists (PT) are core healthcare professionals who play a major role in the prevention of disease complications and in inspiring a healthy lifestyle. To identify challenges in the promotion of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation (CR) in Lebanon, a survey was conducted among PT and physiotherapy students. The aim was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of CR in Lebanon. Results The response rate was 46.1% (N = 322). Results show that 24.5% of respondents have good to excellent knowledge about CR. More than 60% of the respondents indicate possible barriers to starting a CR program, and one of two respondents identify the absence of skills as a main barrier. Findings highlight the importance of the role of PT as a mediator to increase a healthy lifestyle among patients and to promote the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and pulmonary diseases in the country. Conclusions and recommendations Our results support the evidence and clinical guidelines that PT play a major role by increasing the participation of patients in CR. A cost-effective CR program needs to be covered by the private and public system in Lebanon.

Does grip strength correlate with rotator cuff strength in patients with atraumatic shoulder instability?

Aim To investigate if there is a correlation between grip strength (GS) and rotator cuff (RC) strength in patients with atraumatic shoulder instability (ASI) and to compare the relationship between these two measures with that previously published for a healthy population. Moreover, to determine if testing GS could be incorporated as a surrogate clinical assessment for RC strength in these patients. Methods A total of 20 subjects with ASI were included. Out of the 20 patients, eight presented with bilateral instability, which constituted a total of 28 atraumatic unstable shoulders (N = 28). GS was measured using a Jamar hand-dynamometer. External rotation (ER) and internal rotation (IR) strength was tested in inner and outer ranges using a hand-held dynamometer (HHD). Pearson’s correlation test was computed to investigate the relationship. Multiple linear regression was conducted to predict GS based on RC strength. Results Significant and strong positive correlations were found between GS and inner-range IR (r = 0.764, P < 0.001), inner-range ER (r = 0.611, P = 0.001), outer-range IR (r = 0.817, P < 0.001), and outer-range ER (r = 0.736, P < 0.001). A significant regression equation was found (F (4, 23) = 13.254, P < 0.001), with an R2 of 0.697 indicating that RC strength explained 69.7% of the variance in GS. Conclusions The results support the hypothesis showing that GS is strongly associated with RC strength in ASI patients. The simplicity of handgrip testing allows it to be used in clinical scenarios where sophisticated assessment tools are not available. GS is a convenient means to monitor patient progress during shoulder rehabilitation programs.

Effect of oromotor exercises on feeding in children with cerebral palsy: systematic review

Background Feeding problems are prevalent in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Oromotor exercises (OME) should be started as soon as possible to enhance chewing and drooling. Oromotor exercises consist of active exercises, passive exercises, and sensory stimulation. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of oromotor exercises on feeding, chewing, and drooling in children with CP. Body The American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodology were used to conduct a systematic review. Four databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, PEDro, and Google Scholar) were searched; this review includes seven articles, participants were 173 participants ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years. Articles were assessed according to their level of evidence and quality assessment was done by AACPDM, PEDro scale, and JBI scale. Due to the heterogeneity across included studies, descriptive analysis was performed on all of them. Primary outcomes were chewing and drooling. Results showed the effectiveness of OME in improving drooling, but with weak evidence while not effective in improving chewing. Conclusion High-quality studies are required to develop a firm judgment on the influence of oromotor exercises on feeding. The current level of evidence to support the effectiveness of oromotor exercises in children with CP is currently insufficient.

The effectiveness of tele-rehabilitation on improvement of daily living activities in children with cerebral palsy: narrative review

Aim To investigate the effectiveness of tele-rehabilitation for children diagnosed with unilateral cerebral palsy. Method The design of this study is a narrative review. An electronic search was conducted for studies that related to tele-rehabilitation using the following databases: CINAHL, PubMed, MEDLINE, OTSeeker, and PEDro. The data extracted were analyzed by evaluating them according to the key results, limitations, suitability of the methods used to the initial hypothesis, interpretation of the results, and impact of the conclusions in the field. Results Out of 139 studies, 3 studies met the inclusion criteria. Further, manual searches of the references of included studies identified 2 more relevant studies. The interventions applied in those studies were web-based multi-modal therapy program using Move-it-to-improve-it (Mitii™), home-based hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (H-HABIT), and lower-extremity functional training (LIFT). The outcomes were executive functions, occupational performance, activity capacity, dexterity, quality of bimanual hand-use, functional goals, gait capacity, and performance. Conclusion Tele-rehabilitation is effective in improving the functions of the upper and lower extremities in daily living activities for children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP), aged between 2 to 18 years old, classified to levels I and II in GMFCS and levels I, II, and III in MACS. Webcam and good internet connection are essential requirements to conduct tele-rehabilitation. Children need to be contacted weekly via phone or e-mail for further follow-ups. Additionally, tele-rehabilitation may be considered one of the intervention strategies for patients who live in rural areas.

Efficacy of chest expansion resistance exercise on respiratory function, trunk control and dynamic balance in patients with chronic stroke: A Comparative study.

Background Motor impairments caused by stroke result in impaired diaphragmatic and respiratory muscle function, changes in thoracic biomechanics on the hemiparetic side ultimately resulting in decreased efficiency of lung ventilation. This study aimed to examine the efficacy of chest expansion resistance exercise (CERE) on respiratory function, trunk control ability, and balance in patients with chronic stoke. Following a purposive sampling, thirty-five patients with chronic stroke were randomly allocated into two groups, i.e., the experimental group receiving CERE with conventional therapy and the control group receiving conventional therapy alone. Both the groups received therapy four times per week for a period of four weeks (total 16 sessions). Following assessments were done before and after treatment in both the groups: chest expansion ( axillary, nipple, xiphisternal levels) using measure tape, respiratory muscle strength using micro-respiratory pressure meter, trunk control using the Trunk Impairment Scale, and balance using mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test. Results Both groups had 17 participants each (n = 34, drop-outs = 1) consisting of 12 males and 5 females having a mean age of 56.5 ± 12.98 years and 59.7 ± 10.2 years, respectively. Intra-group analysis showed a statistically significant increase in mean values of chest expansion, respiratory muscle strength, trunk control ability, and balance in the experimental group whereas the control group showed improvement only in trunk control ability and balance. Inter-group comparison revealed a better improvement in all the outcome variables in experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusions Based on these results, this study proved that CERE was more effective in improving respiratory function, trunk control, and balance in patients with chronic stroke.

Sensory systems processing in children with spastic cerebral palsy: a pilot study

Background The study of the sensory aspect alongside the motor aspect in children with spastic cerebral palsy is critical. Knowledge may help improve intervention, children’s quality of life, activity, and participation. The study aims to analyze the sensory systems processing in children with spastic cerebral palsy classified by Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) as levels I, II, and III using Child Sensory Profile 2 (CSP-2). Caregivers of children with spastic cerebral palsy aged 6–9 years (n = 20) completed the CSP-2. Children with severe comorbidities besides cerebral palsy (i.e., diabetes, myopathy, neuropathy, and uncontrolled epilepsy), autism, burn injuries, hearing or vision loss were excluded. Results All twenty participating children showed sensory processing difficulties in at least one of the sensory sections. With 14 out of 20 showing abnormalities in more than one section, the majority showed problems in the body position section, followed by the movement section. There was a significant difference between raw scores means of children with unilateral and bilateral SCP at the “body position” section, unlike the rest of the other sections. Conclusions Children with spastic cerebral palsy (GMFCS levels I, II, and III) show sensory systems processing difficulties compared to normative data, especially at vestibular and proprioceptive processing.

Effect of functional electrical stimulation on postural control in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial

Background Children with cerebral palsy have impairments of postural control during static and dynamic activities. Improving postural control is one of the primary objectives of rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy. Therefore, the objective of this study was to study the effect of functional electric stimulation on postural control in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. A randomized controlled study was conducted on 30 children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (18 boys and 12 girls) between the ages of 8 and 12 years. The children were distributed in two equal groups. The experimental group received functional electrical stimulation (pulse width 300 μs, frequency 33 Hz, 2 h/day, 3 days/week, / 3 consecutive months) in addition to the traditional physical therapy program. While the control group received the traditional physiotherapy program only for the same duration. The outcomes included postural stability indices that were measured at baseline and following 3 months of intervention using the Biodex balance system. Results A significant improvement was found in the postural stability indices of children in both groups, comparing their mean values before and after treatment. Furthermore, the results revealed a greater improvement in the postural stability of the experimental group (P < 0.001). Conclusion Functional electrical stimulation may be a useful tool to enhance the postural stability of children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Clinical trial registration This study was registered in the ClinicalTrial.gov PRS (NCT04269798). https://register.clinicaltrials.gov/prs/app/action/SelectProtocol?sid=S0009LHP&selectaction=Edit&uid=U0003GAI&ts=4&cx=74k74l

Effect of functional electrical stimulation versus TheraTogs on gait and balance in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial

Background Children with cerebral palsy exhibit postural restrictions and gait problems as a result of both primary and secondary brain damage impairments. One of the main goals of cerebral palsy rehabilitation is to improve gait and balance. As a result, the purpose of this study was to compare the effects of FES and TheraTogs on gait and balance in children with hemiplegic CP. A randomized controlled study was conducted on 30 children with hemiplegic CP (18 boys and 12 girls) between the ages of 8 and 12 years. The children were divided into two equal groups. In addition to the traditional physical treatment program, the FES group received functional electrical stimulation (pulse width 300 μs, frequency 33 Hz, 2 h/day, 3 days/week, 3 months). The TheraTogs group, on the other hand, received the TheraTogs strapping system as well as the same traditional program for the same time period. The 3-D motion analysis and the Biodex balance system were used to analyze gait parameters and postural stability at baseline and 3 months after the intervention. Results When comparing the mean values of the gait parameters and postural stability indices of children in both groups before and after treatment, a significant improvement was reported. Furthermore, the FES group showed a greater improvement in all of the measured outcomes (P < 0.001). Conclusion Functional electrical stimulation improves gait pattern and postural stability in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy significantly more than TheraTogs strapping systems. Clinical trial registration This study was registered in the ClinicalTrial.gov PRS (NCT05020834).