Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal injuries, such as strains, are prevalent across all age groups and have a substantial impact on daily functioning and quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with traditional rehabilitation programs on pain, range of motion (ROM), muscular strength, and functional changes in promoting accelerated recovery from musculoskeletal injuries. METHODS: A total of 80 participants (54 males, 26 females; mean age 35...

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested an association between pelvic rotation (PR) and scoliotic deformity in severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), but none have investigated this relationship in mild to moderate AIS. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between PR and trunk rotation in mild to moderate AIS. METHODS: This was a case-control study. The cases were 32 AIS patients with PR in the opposite direction to the thoracic curve, and the controls were 32 AIS patients with PR in the same direction as the thoracic curve...

BACKGROUND: Hip osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic progressive disease that impresses a noticeable burden to society and healthcare systems. Physical exercise constitutes the first-line hip OA treatment approach, nevertheless, there is currently no gold standard method to treat this disease. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) on functioning in patients with hip OA. METHOD: A pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was carried out on patients with painful bilateral hip OA with a body mass index (BMI) < 30 kg/m2...

BACKGROUND: Anatomical cup implantation is a promising approach in primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) and improves functional outcomes. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the cup position and functional outcomes in primary THA with preoperative dynamic 3D planning. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 54 hips in 48 patients who underwent primary THA with anatomical cup implantation (mean follow-up time: 52 months). Cup positions were evaluated based on patient-specific morphology, the acetabular fossa and the combined anteversion test...

BACKGROUND: There has been a dearth of research into the benefits of water-based workouts for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the effect of Aqua Stretch and Aqua Pilates in improving quality of life (QOL), function, and pain in AS patients. METHODS: This study was conducted on 40 patients, who were randomly assigned to the Aqua Pilates, Aqua Stretch, and control groups. The experimental groups attended interventions for six-week...

BACKGROUND: Elastic taping that applies shear force affects joint movement. However, it remains uncertain whether elastic taping or stretching is more effective in improving flexibility. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether elastic taping for flexibility improvement is comparable to traditional stretching. METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 64 university students were randomly allocated to two groups: elastic taping on the sole or 30 s of static stretching...

BACKGROUND: No study to date has concurrently evaluated the impact of radiological factors, psychosocial factors, and central sensitization (CS) related symptoms in a single lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSS) patient cohort. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations between these factors and clinical symptoms in LSS patients. METHODS: We recruited 154 patients with LSS scheduled for surgery. Patient-reported outcome measures and imaging evaluation including clinical symptoms, psychosocial factors, CS-related symptoms, and radiological classifications...

BACKGROUND: The restoration and management of the uninvolved side have been emphasized to prevent a second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and to ensure that athletes return to sports after ACL reconstruction. OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors influencing the single leg hop test (SLHT) and single leg vertical jump test (SLVJT) at 1 year postoperatively after ACL reconstruction in both the involved and uninvolved sides. METHODS: Ninety-four patients who underwent ACL reconstruction were assessed at 1 year postoperatively...

BACKGROUND: The local hemodynamic response after cupping therapy has been considered as a contributing factor for improving muscle tissue health; however, the effects of cupping pressure and duration on the spatial hemodynamic response have not been investigated. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the hemodynamic response inside and outside the cupping cup under various pressures and durations of cupping therapy. METHODS: A 3-way factorial design with repeated measures was used to investigate the main and interaction effects of the location (areas inside and outside the cup), pressure (-225 and -300 mmHg) and duration (5 and 10 min) on the hemodynamic response of the biceps muscle...

BACKGROUND: Chronic low back pain (LBP) can lead to muscle spasms, limited range of motion, and abnormal posture, resulting in trunk muscle asymmetry. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the intra- and inter-rater reliability of a quantitative measurement of trunk coronal asymmetry in patients with chronic LBP, minimizing unnecessary gravity and friction force using a manual table in the prone position. METHODS: This prospective study was conducted at a single center, targeting patients with chronic LBP to measure trunk coronal asymmetry on a manual table in the prone position...

BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) has been reported to treat motor dysfunction in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in the last few years. However, the benefits of RAGT for treating motor dysfunction in PD are still unclear. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of RAGT for motor dysfunction in PD patients. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), and Chinese VIP Database for randomized controlled trials investigating RAGT to improve motor dysfunction in PD from the databases' inception dates until September 1, 2022...

BACKGROUND: Epidural steroid injections are common procedures used to treat lumbosacral radicular pain due to lumbar disc herniation (LDH). It is crucial for the clinician to anticipate which patients can benefit from interventional treatment options. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the effect of radiological and clinical parameters on lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESI)/local anesthetic injection outcomes in patients with LDH. METHODS: This study included 286 patients with LDH (146 males and 140 females)...

BACKGROUND: Muscle imbalance has long been recognized as one of the possible pathogeneses for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). PIEZO2, the susceptibility gene of AIS, has been identified to play an important role in neuromuscular activities. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare the mRNA expression of PIEZO2 between concave and convex paraspinal muscles of AIS patients and to identify the relationship between the ratio of PIEZO2 expression and curve magnitude...

BACKGROUND: To measure hamstring flexibility, the active knee extension (AKE) test is preferred over the straight leg raise (SLR) test as it can be used to measure hamstring flexibility more selectively. However, hamstring stretching is primarily conducted in the SLR position (maximal hip flexion in the supine position) as it allows for maximal hip flexion in the supine position. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching in the AKE position (maximal knee extension with 90∘ flexion of the hip in the supine position) on hip, knee, and ankle flexibility...

BACKGROUND: Monopolar radiofrequency ablation (MRFA) of the genicular nerves has been considered the main interventional treatment for chronic knee pain. However, the variable locations of these nerves could suggest that traditional MRFA of genicular nerves may be insufficient to cover the area needed to provide complete sensory denervation. For these reasons, some alternatives have been proposed to achieve an increase in the lesion area that offers better outcomes such a bipolar radiofrequency ablation (BRFA)...

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that core muscle training can accelerate the recovery of motor function in stroke patients. However, there are no relevant reports to show the effect of core muscle training combined with functional electrical stimulation (FES) on the rehabilitation of stroke patients. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to observe the efficacy of core muscle training combined with FES on motor and balance functions of lower limbs in stroke patients. METHODS: This study selected and divided 120 stroke patients with hemiplegia admitted to our hospital into the control and observation groups...

BACKGROUND: Despite wobble boards use being common in physiotherapy the effect of certain factors, essential to clinical reasoning, have not been investigated. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of biological sex, anthropometrics, footwear and dual tasking (DT) on wobble board balance performance. METHODS: Eighty-six healthy participants (44 females) had their wobble board performance measured during double-leg-stance (DLS) with eyes open (DLSEO), closed (DLSEC) and single-leg-stance (SLS) tasks, with and without footwear and a DT added...

BACKGROUND: Traction-and-vibration-therapy (TVT) relieves pain in participants with hip osteoarthritis. Hip TVT is usually performed manually by the physiotherapist. OBJECTIVE: A medical device was developed to perform hip-TVT in order to investigate effects on hip disability, pain intensity, recovery of balance and functional mobility in older adults with hip osteoarthritis and also to reduce physiotherapists' workload and help standardize treatment of hip TVT...

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common and disabling disease among the elderly population. The optimal conservative treatment for knee OA is not well established. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) combined with progressive resistance exercise (PRE) in improving physical function and pain in patients with knee OA. METHODS: Thirty-four patients with knee OA (17 in each group) participated in a single-blind randomized control study...

BACKGROUND: Although mulligan sustained natural apophyseal glides (SNAG) and maitland mobilization (MM) are common interventions for musculoskeletal disease, no study has directly compared the effectiveness of mid-thoracic spine mobilization in subacute stroke patients. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of mid-thoracic spine mobilization (SNAG vs. MM) on postural balance and gait ability in subacute stroke patients. METHODS: Fifty subacute stroke patients were randomly allocated to the SNAG (n= 17), MM (n= 16), and control (n= 17) groups, each receiving a neuro-developmental therapy program for four successive weeks...