Effect of Transfer Energy Capacitive and Resistive Therapy on Shoulder Pain, Disability, and Range of Motion in Patients With Adhesive Capsulitis: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: We describe a protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of transfer energy capacitive and resistive (TECAR) therapy on shoulder passive range of motion, shoulder pain, and disability index in patients with adhesive capsulitis. Methods: This study will be a double-blinded randomized clinical trial with a 1-month follow-up. For the purpose of this research, 30 patients with a 3-month history of shoulder pain and disability diagnosed as adhesive capsulitis will be selected and then randomized into 2 groups, including conventional physiotherapy consisting of electrophysical modalities and therapeutic exercises, which will be given to the control group. In the intervention group, after conventional physiotherapy, 10 minutes of TECAR therapy in resistive mode will be applied on both the anterior and inferior aspects of the shoulder joint. Outcome measures will be related to shoulder passive range of abduction, flexion, and external rotation that will be measured using a digital inclinometer, as well as shoulder pain and disability index that will be assessed by the validated questionnaire. Assessment will be done at baseline, 1 day after the intervention, and by passing 1 month. Results: The statistical analysis will describe within-group and between-group comparisons; the findings will be illustrated in tables and charts. Conclusion: Given the reason that the effectiveness of TECAR therapy has not been widely evaluated in adhesive capsulitis, the findings of this pilot study would provide baseline information on the effectiveness and complications of this treatment method and possibly propose a more appropriate protocol for patients with adhesive capsulitis.

The effects of intrinsic foot muscles strengthening exercises on knee kinematic in pronated foot subjects during forward jump landing.

Introduction: The foot and ankle are a complex set of multiple joints with multiple degrees of freedom that play an important role in static and dynamic activities. The intrinsic and extrinsic muscles of this complex play a role in controlling the deformity of the arch; thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the intrinsic foot muscle-strengthening exercises on knee kinematic parameters in pronated foot subjects during forward jump landing. Methods: This interventional study was performed on students aged 20-30-years old with foot pronation in the School of Rehabilitation. In this study, the kinematic changes of the knee in the frontal, sagittal and transverse plane before and after 6 weeks of strengthening exercises of the intrinsic foot muscles during the forward jump-landing task were examined using a motion analyser. All data analysis was performed offline using a special software program in the MATLAB software environment. Results: Knee angle variables have a normal distribution before and after exercise. The ICC coefficient of all variables was calculated as between 0.44 and 0.71; therefore, the reproducibility of the variables under study in this study was considered moderate to good. The knee angle on the frontal plate was 2.54 ± 2.4 before the exercises and 2.49 ± 2.14 after the exercises, and there was no significant difference between them (P = 0.21). Conclusion: Plantar intrinsic foot muscle-strengthening exercises alone have no effect on the kinematic changes of the knee in people with foot pronation, or the duration of strengthening exercises should be increased during the day to see the effect of strengthening the intrinsic muscles among pronated foot subjects.

The effects of passive stretching on the blood glucose levels of patients with type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes is characterized by poor glycemic control due to decreased insulin sensitivity. Physical activity plays an important role in the management of diabetes and reduces blood glucose level. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of passive stretching (PS) on the blood glucose level (BGL) of diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized clinical trial, fifty patients with type 2 diabetes and mean age of 50.7 ±â€¯4.8 years were randomly and equally allocated into control and intervention groups. Patients in the intervention and control groups underwent 20 min of passive stretching (PS) and passive movement (PM), respectively. BGL was measured before and immediately after, 20 min after and 1 h after PS/PM in the two study groups. BGL at the mentioned times was compared between and within the groups. RESULTS: The findings showed that when compared with before the PS (195.7 ±â€¯30.1), BGL significantly reduced (p < 0.001) immediately after (178.9 ±â€¯29.7), 20 min after (183.2 ±â€¯29.1), and 1 h after (187.8 ±â€¯29.6) the PS. However, BGL after PM (immediately, 20 min and 1 h after PM) did not significantly change (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study indicated that PS has a significant effect on the reduction of the immediate BGL in type 2 diabetic patients. The trend reduced even though the effect remained for 1 h after PS. It is therefore suggested that the effectiveness of these types of activities should be evaluated over a longer duration of study.

A comparison of foot kinetic parameters between pronated and normal foot structures during forward jump landing.

BACKGROUND: Pronated foot is one of the most important factors that may lead to musculoskeletal injuries of the lower extremities. It is known that in a pronated foot, excessive mechanical loads are applied to the lower limb structures, which result in the altered foot biomechanics, including vertical ground reaction forces (VGRFs) and rate of loading (ROL). Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the changes in foot kinetic parameters in the pronated compared to the normal foot structures. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 15 individuals (mean age of 23.27 ± 3.28 years) with asymptomatic pronated feet and 15 normal subjects (mean age of 23.40 ± 3.11 years) were recruited from both genders by using a simple non-random sampling method. VGRF, ROL, and the resultant vector of time to stabilization (RVTTS) were evaluated during the forward jump landing task by using a force plate. RESULTS: The findings showed that the following parameters were significantly higher in the group of pronated feet than in the normal subjects: VGRF (3.30 ± 0.17 vs. 2.81 ± 0.15, p = .042), ROL (0.10 ± 0.01 vs. 0.07 ± 0.006, p = .020), and RVTTS (2592.80 ± 141.24 vs. 2114.00 ± 154.77, p = .030). CONCLUSION: All the measured foot kinetic parameters were higher in the pronated foot subjects than in the normal participants. An impaired movement control and greater forces imposed on the foot region of the pronated foot, compared to the normal foot individuals, were discovered indicating the former group's possible increase of susceptibility to various musculoskeletal injuries.

Ultrasonography in Diagnosis of Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Reliability of Novel Ultrasonic Indexes of Upper Trapezius Muscle.

BACKGROUND: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common non-articular musculoskeletal disorder. It is characterized by local and referred pain due to the presence of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). MTrPs most commonly involve the upper trapezius muscle and can be visualized using ultrasound imaging. This study was designed to determine the inter-rater reliability of some new ultrasonographic indices of the upper trapezius muscle and the sensitivity and specificity of 2D ultrasound imaging in the diagnosis of MPS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This semi-experimental study enrolled 15 participants of both genders (mean age: 40.60 ± 5.74 years) with suspected symptoms of MPS. In the first step of the study, the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonography for diagnosis of MPS was determined in a double blind manner. In the second step, some ultrasonographic measurements, such as muscle thickness, area of MTrPs in longitudinal view, echogenicity of MTrPs in longitudinal view, echogenicity of muscle with MTrPs in longitudinal and transverse views, and the pennation angle of the upper trapezius muscle were measured twice and their reliability was determined using the value of the mean of the two measurements. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonographic diagnosis were 91% and 75%, respectively. The inter-rater reliability of upper trapezius muscle thickness, pennation angle, area of MTrPs, echogenicity of active MTrPs in longitudinal view, echogenicity of muscle with MTrPs in transverse view and echogenicity of muscle with MTrPs in longitudinal view were 0.91, 0.96, 0.93, 0.83, 0.93, and 0.91, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: 1. Our findings indicated that ultrasonography is a useful method for the diagnosis of MPS owing to its high sensitivity. 2. Appropriate reliability of the quantitative ultrasonographic indices of interest, especially the area of MTrPs and their echogenicity, could be useful for long-term monitoring and designing interventional studies for better management of the syndrome.