Use of Physical Therapists to Identify and Treat Musculoskeletal Injuries at "The Tip of the Trident".

Musculoskeletal injuries continue to be the most common cause of decreased readiness and loss of productivity in all military environments. In commands with smaller footprints, such as Naval Special Warfare (NSW), every asset is critical for mission success. Studies have shown that early intervention by a medical provider can enhance healing and maintain unit readiness by preventing medical evacuations. Reports are limited with regard to Special Forces commands, especially during deployment. This article describes the injury characteristics and treatment of injuries seen by a physical therapist while deployed at forward operation commands embedded with NSW Group 2 Team 4. Over 4 months, 282 patients were evaluated and treated in southeast Afghanistan. In descending order, the three most common injured body regions were the lumbar/sacral spine (n = 82), shoulder (n = 59), and knee (n = 28). Therapy exercises (n = 461) were the most frequently performed treatment modality, followed by mobilization/manipulation (n = 394) and dry needling (n = 176). No patient evaluated was medically evacuated from the area or sent to an advanced medical site. Our data are similar to other published data reported on deployed units in terms of mechanisms and locations of injuries; thus, Special Forces commands do not appear to have unique injury patterns. These results support continued use of physical therapists in forward operations because of their ability to evaluate injuries and provide treatment modalities that help maintain the integrity of small commands at the site of injury.

Spine Conditions: Mechanical and Inflammatory Low Back Pain.

Mechanical low back pain (LBP) is an injury or derangement of an anatomic structure in the low back. When evaluating patients with LBP, clinicians should maintain clinical suspicion for vertebral fracture, cancer, and cauda equina syndrome. Management includes patient education focused on exercise, massage, and behavioral approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy. Acupuncture can be an effective alternative and specific herbal supplements may provide short-term pain relief. The prognosis for patients with mechanical LBP is good. Inflammatory LBP is pain resulting from a systemic inflammatory condition, often referred to as axial spondyloarthritis. Ankylosing spondylitis is chronic inflammatory LBP characterized by early onset (mean age 24 years), with a higher prevalence in men. Five clinical parameters can help identify inflammatory LBP: improvement with exercise, pain at night, insidious onset, onset at younger than 40 years, and no improvement with rest. Management of inflammatory LBP typically includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and structured exercise programs, with emphasis on the involvement of a rheumatology subspecialist. Spondyloarthritis is associated with other rheumatic or autoimmune conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis. These should be considered when evaluating patients with inflammatory LBP.

Lower thoracic syndrome - a differential screen for back pain following vertical compression injury: a case report.

A 36-year-old male experienced left sided back and radiating flank pain, following a fall on his buttock. A detailed medical evaluation ruled out the presence of red flags. Initial examination revealed positive findings of comparable local tenderness over the left T11, T12 and left paraspinal area, and a 2 cm shortening of the left leg. 8 treatment visits for a period of 4 weeks addressed mechanical dysfunction at the T11, T12, lumbar and pelvic region, comprising manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and pain relieving modalities. Reduction of local tenderness, back and radiating flank pain was observed. Additionally, resolution of the persistent apparent shortening of his left leg was observed, following a high velocity thrust (HVT) manipulation of the T11, T12 segments. The vertebral motion segment of T11, T12, the thoracoabdominal nerves, the 12th rib, the quadratus lumborum and the serratus posterior inferior are speculated to be potential symptom mediators. The findings in the case report suggest the lower thoracic region to be included during the evaluation process of back pain, especially when the mechanism of injury is a vertical compression.

Functional scores and subjective responses of injured workers with back or neck pain treated with chiropractic care in an integrative program: a retrospective analysis of 100 cases.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to report on integrative care for the treatment of injured workers with neck or back pain referred to a doctor of chiropractic from a medical or osteopathic provider. METHODS: This retrospective case series study evaluated data on 100 patients referred for chiropractic care of work-related spinal injuries involving workers' compensation claims. Deidentified data included age, sex, visual analog scale scores for pain, pre- and posttreatment Functional Rating Index (FRI) scores, and subjective response to chiropractic care. Based on date of injury to first chiropractic treatment, patients were subdivided as acute, subacute, or chronic injured workers. Cases were analyzed for differences in pretreatment FRI scores, posttreatment FRI scores, FRI change scores (posttreatment FRI minus pretreatment FRI score), and subjective percentage improvement using a 1-way analysis of variance. Treatment included manual therapy techniques and exercise. RESULTS: Injured workers with either an acute or subacute injury had significantly lower posttreatment FRI scores compared with individuals with a chronic injury. The FRI change scores were significantly greater in the acute group compared with either the subacute or chronic injured workers. Workers in all categories showed improved posttreatment tolerance for work-related activities and significantly lower posttreatment subjective pain scores. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified positive effects of chiropractic management included in integrative care when treating work-related neck or back pain. Improvement in both functional scores and subjective response was noted in all 3 time-based phases of patient status (acute, subacute, and chronic).