Robotic upper limb rehabilitation after acute stroke by NeReBot: evaluation of treatment costs.

Stroke is the first cause of disability. Several robotic devices have been developed for stroke rehabilitation. Robot therapy by NeReBot is demonstrated to be an effective tool for the treatment of poststroke paretic upper limbs, able to improve the activities of daily living of stroke survivors when used both as additional treatment and in partial substitution of conventional rehabilitation therapy in the acute and subacute phases poststroke. This study presents the evaluation of the costs related to delivering such therapy, in comparison with conventional rehabilitation treatment. By comparing several NeReBot treatment protocols, made of different combinations of robotic and nonrobotic exercises, we show that robotic technology can be a valuable and economically sustainable aid in the management of poststroke patient rehabilitation.

RECONSTRUCTION FOLLOWING EXTENSIVE TUMOR RESECTION OF THE PELVIC AND SCAPULAR GIRDLE: A REPORT OF TWO CASES.

Radical surgeries for treatment of scapular and pelvic girdle tumors (hemipelvectomy and interscapulothoracic amputation) are generally extended procedures, with large areas of local tissue loss after tumor resection. The use of a flap that includes all the anterior and posterior thigh musculature after femur dissection, pedicled in the superficial femoral vessels, has been described was only once in the medical literature, and there have been no reports on a similar flap using the whole anterior and posterior musculature of the arm after humerus dissection, pedicled in the subclavian vessels, for reconstruction after interscapulothoracic amputation. Here, we describe two cases - one hemipelvectomy and one interscapulothoracicl amputation - using these two the flaps to close the defect.

STUDY ON THE APPLICABILITY OF THE MODIFIED TOKUHASHI SCORE IN PATIENTS WITH SURGICALLY TREATED VERTEBRAL METASTASIS.

UNLABELLED: To present the results obtained from surgical treatment of patients with vertebral metastases, comparing them with the modified Tokuhashi score in order to validate the applicability of this score for prognostic predictions and for choosing surgical treatments. METHODS: This was a retrospective study on 157 patients treated surgically for spinal metastasis in Erastus Gaertner Hospital in Curitiba. The Tokuhashi score was applied retrospectively to all the patients. The patients' actual survival time was compared with the expected survival time using the Tokuhashi score. RESULTS: There were 82 females and 75 males. The most frequent location of the primary tumor was the breast. The thoracic region was involved in 66.2%, lumbar region in 65.6%, cervical region in 15.9% and sacral region in 12.7%. All the patients underwent surgical treatment. The most frequent indication for treatment was intractable pain (89.2%). There was partial or complete improvement in a majority of the cases (52.2%). Out of 157 cases studied, 86.6% died. The maximum survival time was 13.6 years, the minimum was 3 days and the mean was 13.2 months. The following frequencies of Tokuhashi scores were found among the operated cases: up to 8 points, 111 cases; 9-11 points, 43 cases; and 12-15 points, three cases. The mean survival time in months for all 157 patients according to the Tokuhashi score was: 0-8 points, 15.4 months; 9-11 points, 11.4 months; and 12-15 points, 12 months. CONCLUSION: Unlike the nonsurgical approach recommended by Tokuhashi for patients with lower scores, this group in our study was sent for surgery, with better results than those of non-operated patients reported by Tokuhashi.

CEMENTLESS ENDOPROSTHESIS IN THE TREATMENT OF GIANT CELL TUMOR OF THE TIBIA: EIGHTEEN YEARS OF EVOLUTION.

This is a case report on a giant cell tumor of the juxta-articular proximal tibia with a pathological fracture. A female patient presented pain and increased local volume after falling from her own height. She underwent clinical examination, radiographic examination and puncture biopsy. A diagnosis of giant cell tumor was made. The patient was then treated with tumor resection and use of an unconventional partial endoprosthesis of the tibia with preservation of the joint surface of the tibial plateau. The patient evolved with improvement of symptoms and maintenance of joint function of the operated limb, absence of recurrence and complications, without any need for reoperation over 18 years of follow-up.