Finger-assisted stretching technique for cesarean section.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the perioperative outcomes of two cesarean section methods, the finger-assisted stretching technique (FAST), based on a modified Joel-Cohen method, with the traditional technique. METHODS: A retrospective review of the records of 416 women who underwent cesarean sections at Guro Hospital, Seoul, Korea, between May 1993 and December 2001 was performed. Of the 416 women, 283 underwent cesarean sections with FAST and 133 with the traditional technique. RESULTS: Operative time was significantly shorter with FAST (15.3 vs. 42.6 min, P<.05), and FAST was associated with lower blood loss (601 vs. 928 mL, P<.05) and shorter hospital stay (3.7 vs. 6.5 days, P<.05). There were no significant differences in wound infection, voiding difficulty, and postoperative adhesions between the two methods. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that FAST may be the better technique.     

JAS静态牵伸结合拮抗肌针刺治疗脑卒中后肌张力增高的疗效观察

目的探讨膝关节活动系统(JAS)静态牵伸结合拮抗肌针刺治疗脑卒中后肌张力增高的疗效。方法 60例脑卒中后肌张力增高患者,采用随机数字表法分为实验组和对照组,各30例。对照组采用JAS静态牵伸方法治疗,实验组在对照组基础上配合拮抗肌针刺治疗。比较两组患者不同时间段腱反射、肌张力和阵挛临床痉挛指数(CSI)评分;不同时间段肢体运动功能(Fugl-Meyer)评分;治疗前后日常生活活动能力评分;治疗效果。结果实验组治疗后腱反射、肌张力和阵挛CSI评分分别为(2.13±0.57)、(4.20±0.62)、(1.50±0.57)分,随访期腱反射、肌张力和阵挛CSI评分分别为(2.22±0.75)、(4.27±1.04)、(1.60±0.62)分,均低于治疗前的(2.97±1.07)、(5.33±2.19)、(2.50±0.90)分,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。对照组治疗后腱反射、肌张力和阵挛CSI评分分别为(2.43±1.01)、(4.80±1.34)、(1.97±0.81)分,随访期腱反射、肌张力和阵挛CSI评分分别为(2.60±0.65)、(4.87±1.05)、(2.10±0.92)分,与治疗前的(2.83±1.05)、(5.20±2.20)、(2.57±0.94)分比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。实验组治疗后及随访期腱反射、肌张力和阵挛CSI评分低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。实验组治疗后及随访期Fugl-Meyer评分分别为(80.97±3.32)、(82.13±2.71)分,均低于治疗前的(38.63±5.57)分,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。对照组治疗后及随访期Fugl-Meyer评分分别为(66.87±4.56)、(65.97±4.25)分,均低于治疗前的(43.73±7.05)分,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。实验组治疗后及随访期FuglMeyer评分均高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。实验组和对照组治疗后日常生活活动能力评分为(75.91±12.61)、(62.53±15.43)分,均高于治疗前的(44.72±11.23)、(44.86±11.64)分,实验组治疗后日常生活活动能力评分高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。实验组治疗总有效率96.67%高于对照组50.00%,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论采用JAS静态牵伸结合拮抗肌针刺治疗脑卒中后肌张力增高,能有效改善患者的上下肢痉挛情况,提高日常生活能力,值得临床推广应用。     

Effects of progressive muscular relaxation and stretching exercises combination on blood pressure among farmers in rural areas of Indonesia: a randomized study

Objective: Maintaining blood pressure (BP) could improve the quality of life among farmers in agricultural health. The study aims to evaluate the effects of progressive muscular relaxation and stretching exercises (SEs) for BP in farmer subjects in rural areas.Methods: A randomized controlled design was applied for this study. We performed a method, which is the combination of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and SEs for participants (30 in the control group and 60 in the intervention group). The intervention group self-practiced PMR and SEs through a video that providing instructions for 15 min. PMR practiced before going to sleeping in the night,and SEs practiced before going to farms in the morning per day for 3-months. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed to measure the difference between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) as one pre- and post-test comparison of baseline and 3 months data in control and intervention groups.Results: There were no significant differences between SBP and DBP pre- and post-test in control group (P > 0.050). Meanwhile, there were significant differences in reducing SBP (M = 126.67; SD = 18.07; 95％ CI = 120–147.5 mmHg) and DBP (M = 80.67; SD = 6.91;95％ CI = 80–90 mmHg) pre- and post-test combination of PMR and SEs in intervention group (P < 0.001). After 3-months of followup data, number type SBP and DBP still remained at the same levels of baseline and 3-month data in control group. While, there was an increased number of normal and prehypertension for SBP and DBP (10％ vs. 10％ and 20％ vs. 31.6％) and reduced of hypertension stage I for SBP and DBP (30％ vs. 41.6％).Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrated effectively to reduce SBP and DBP among farmers using the combination of PMR and SEs in the agricultural health setting.     

TEMPORAL PATTERN OF KINESIOLOGY TAPE EFFICACY ON HAMSTRING EXTENSIBILITY

Background

Kinesiology tape has been advocated as a means of improving muscle flexibility, a potential modifiable risk factor for injury, over time. The epidemiology and etiology of hamstring injuries in sport have been well documented.

Purpose

To compare the temporal pattern of efficacy of kinesiology tape and traditional stretching techniques on hamstring extensibility over a five day period.

Study Design

Controlled laboratory study.

Methods

Thirty recreationally active male participants (Mean ± SD: age 20.0 ± 1.55 years; height 179.3 ± 4.94 cm; mass 76.9 ± 7.57 kg) completed an active knee extension assessment (of the dominant leg) as a measure of hamstring extensibility. Three experimental interventions were applied in randomized order: Kinesiology tape (KT), static stretch (SS), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). Measures were taken at baseline, +1min, + 30mins, + 3days and +5days days after each intervention. The temporal pattern of change in active knee extension was modelled as a range of regression polynomials for each intervention, quantified as the regression coefficient.

Results

Hamstring ROM with KT application at +3days was significantly greater than baseline (129.18 ± 15.46%, p = 0.01), SS (106.99 ± 9.84%, p = 0.03) and PNF (107.42 ± 136.13%, p = 0.03) interventions. The temporal pattern of changes in ROM for SS and PNF were best modelled by a negative linear function, although the strength of the correlation was weak in each case. In contrast, the KT data was optimised using a quadratic polynomial function (r² = 0.60), which yielded an optimum time of 2.76 days, eliciting a predicted ROM of 129.6% relative to baseline.

Conclusion

Each intervention displayed a unique temporal pattern of changes in active knee extension. SS was best suited to immediate improvements, and PNF to +30 minutes in hamstring extensibility, whereas kinesiology tape offered advantages over a longer duration, peaking at 2.76 days. These findings have implications for the choice of intervention, timing and duration to assist clinicians in both a sporting and clinical context.

Level of evidence

2c     

Multiaxial mechanical response and constitutive modeling of esophageal tissues: Impact on esophageal tissue engineering

Congenital defects of the esophagus are relatively frequent, with 1 out of 2500 babies suffering from such a defect. A new method of treatment by implanting tissue engineered esophagi into newborns is currently being developed and tested using ovine esophagi. For the reconstruction of the biological function of native tissues with engineered esophagi, their cellular structure as well as their mechanical properties must be considered. Since very limited mechanical and structural data for the esophagus are available, the aim of this study was to investigate the multiaxial mechanical behavior of the ovine esophagus and the underlying microstructure. Therefore, uniaxial tensile, biaxial tensile and extension-inflation tests on esophagi were performed. The underlying microstructure was examined in stained histological sections through standard optical microscopy techniques. Moreover, the uniaxial ultimate tensile strength and residual deformations of the tissue were determined. Both the mucosa-submucosa and the muscle layers showed nonlinear and anisotropic mechanical behavior during uniaxial, biaxial and inflation testing. Cyclical inflation of the intact esophageal tube caused marked softening of the passive esophagi in the circumferential direction. The rupture strength of the mucosa-submucosa layer was much higher than that of the muscle layer. Overall, the ovine esophagus showed a heterogeneous and anisotropic behavior with different mechanical properties for the individual layers. The intact and layer-specific multiaxial properties were characterized using a well-known three-dimensional microstructurally based strain-energy function. This novel and complete set of data serves the basis for a better understanding of tissue remodeling in diseased esophagi and can be used to perform computer simulations of surgical interventions or medical-device applications.     

特质好奇对军队离退休干部主观幸福感的影响

目的 探讨特质好奇对军队离退休干部主观幸福感的影响.方法 研究对象为73例军队离退休干部,应用纽芬兰纪念大学幸福度量表、好奇心和探索量表进行测量,采用分层回归法进行数据分析.结果 (1)控制了自评健康状况后,特质好奇的纳入提高了模型解释率(△R2 =0.07,F=3.26,P＜0.05);(2)特质好奇的伸展因素和接受因素都对主观幸福感有独立作用,其中伸展因素的系数为正(β=0.39,P＜0.05),接受因素的系数为负(β=-0.32,P＜0.05).结论 特质好奇是影响军队离退休干部主观幸福感的重要因素,特质好奇的两个因素对主观幸福感存在不同的影响,伸展因素的得分越高,主观幸福感程度越高;接受因素的得分越高,主观幸福感程度越低.