A Machine Learning Approach for Knee Injury Detection from Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

The knee is an essential part of our body, and identifying its injuries is crucial since it can significantly affect quality of life. To date, the preferred way of evaluating knee injuries is through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is an effective imaging technique that accurately identifies injuries. The issue with this method is that the high amount of detail that comes with MRIs is challenging to interpret and time consuming for radiologists to analyze. The issue becomes even more concerning when radiologists are required to analyze a significant number of MRIs in a short period. For this purpose, automated tools may become helpful to radiologists assisting them in the evaluation of these images. Machine learning methods, in being able to extract meaningful information from data, such as images or any other type of data, are promising for modeling the complex patterns of knee MRI and relating it to its interpretation. In this study, using a real-life imaging protocol, a machine-learning model based on convolutional neural networks used for detecting medial meniscus tears, bone marrow edema, and general abnormalities on knee MRI exams is presented. Furthermore, the model's effectiveness in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity is evaluated. Based on this evaluation protocol, the explored models reach a maximum accuracy of 83.7%, a maximum sensitivity of 82.2%, and a maximum specificity of 87.99% for meniscus tears. For bone marrow edema, a maximum accuracy of 81.3%, a maximum sensitivity of 93.3%, and a maximum specificity of 78.6% is reached. Finally, for general abnormalities, the explored models reach 83.7%, 90.0% and 84.2% of maximum accuracy, sensitivity and specificity, respectively.

Patello-Femoral Pain Syndrome: Magnetic Resonance Imaging versus Ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Ultrasound (US) in combination with clinical data could contribute to the diagnosis, staging and follow-up of Patello-Femoral Syndrome (PFS), which often overlaps with other pathologies of the knee. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the diagnostic role of MRI and US findings associated with PFS and define the range values of instrumental measurements obtained in pathological cases and healthy controls, the performance of the two methods in comparison, and the correlation with clinical data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 100 subjects were examined: 60 patients with a high suspicion of PFS at the clinical evaluation and 40 healthy controls. All measurements obtained by MRI and US examination were correlated with clinical data. A descriptive analysis of all measurements was stratified for pathological cases and healthy controls. A Student's t-test for continuous variables was used to compare patients to controls and US to MRI. Logistic regression analysis was applied to test the correlation between MRI and US measurements with clinical data. RESULTS: Statistical descriptive analysis determined the MRI and US range values of medial patello-femoral distance and the thickness of retinacles and cartilages in pathological cases and healthy controls. In pathological cases, the retinacle results of both increased; the medial appeared to be slightly more increased than the lateral. Furthermore, in some cases, the thickness of the cartilage decreased in both techniques; the medial cartilage was more thinned than the lateral. According to logistic regression analyses, the best diagnostic parameter was the medial patello-femoral distance due to the overlapping results of the US and MRI. Furthermore, all clinical data obtained by different tests showed a good correlation with patello-femoral distance. In particular, the correlation between medial patello-femoral distance and the VAS score is direct and equal to 97-99%, which is statistically significant (p < 0.001), and the correlation with the KOOS score is inverse and equal to 96-98%, which is statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: MRI and Ultrasound examination in combination with clinical data demonstrated high-value results in the diagnosis of PFS.

Inflammatory Response Modulation by Low-Dose Anti-inflammatory Drugs Treatment in an in vitro Osteoarthritis Cellular Model.

BACKGROUND: Low-dose-medicine is based on the administration of low doses of biological regulators to restore the immunologic balance altered in the disease. Cytokines are pivotal regulators of cellular and tissue functions and impaired crosstalk, due to an imbalance between specific cytokines, it is fundamental in acute inflammation and diseases correlated to low-grade chronic inflammation. Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent arthritic disease and a leading cause of disability. In the treatment of muscle-skeletal pathologies, the therapeutic integration of conventional medicine with homotoxicology, or low-dose-medicine appears to be beneficial. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to get more insights into the role of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines during the development of osteoarthritis and to evaluate a possible blocking strategy using anti-inflammatory molecules, we resort to an in vitro experimental model using an established human chondrosarcoma cell line that underwent to a well known pro-inflammatory stimulus as bacterial lipopolysaccharide. METHOD: We tested the production of inflammatory-related cytokines and chemokines, and the efficacy of low-dose (LD) administration of anti-inflammatory compounds, namely IL-10 and anti-IL-1, to block inflammatory cellular pathways. RESULTS: Following an inflammatory insult, chondrocytes upregulated the expression of several pro-inflammatory cyto-/chemokines and this induction could be counteracted by LD IL-10 and anti-IL-1. We reported that these effects could be ascribed to an interfering effect of LD drugs with the NF-κB signaling. CONCLUSION: Our results provided a good indication that LD drugs can be effective in inhibiting the inflammatory response in chondrocytes opening the way to new therapies for the treatment of diseases such as osteoarthritis.

The Use of Machine Learning for Inferencing the Effectiveness of a Rehabilitation Program for Orthopedic and Neurological Patients.

Advance assessment of the potential functional improvement of patients undergoing a rehabilitation program is crucial in developing precision medicine tools and patient-oriented rehabilitation programs, as well as in better allocating resources in hospitals. In this work, we propose a novel approach to this problem using machine learning algorithms focused on assessing the modified Barthel index (mBI) as an indicator of functional ability. We build four tree-based ensemble machine learning models and train them on a private training cohort of orthopedic (OP) and neurological (NP) hospital discharges. Moreover, we evaluate the models using a validation set for each category of patients using root mean squared error (RMSE) as an absolute error indicator between the predicted mBI and the actual values. The best results obtained from the study are an RMSE of 6.58 for OP patients and 8.66 for NP patients, which shows the potential of artificial intelligence in predicting the functional improvement of patients undergoing rehabilitation.

Cervical Spine Manipulations: Role of Diagnostic Procedures, Effectiveness, and Safety from a Rehabilitation and Forensic Medicine Perspective: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Cervical spine manipulations (CSM) have been performed for centuries and are a widely practiced intervention to manage cervical spine musculoskeletal disorders. We aimed to perform an overview of the literature concerning the effects and the adverse events of CSM in the Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) field with a forensic medicine perspective. METHODS: A search in the scientific literature (PubMed, Google Scholar, PEDro and Cochrane) was carried out from inception until October 2020. RESULTS: Fourteen articles were included in this narrative summary. The possible development of side effects requires a careful mandatory balance of benefits and risks even when there is an indication for this approach. Moreover, a qualified professional is essential to perform CSM-a non-invasive therapeutic procedure that can be potentially harmful. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, it is essential to perform the diagnosis, to treat, and to manage complications within the PRM field, both for the reduction of malpractice claims and, most importantly, for the safety of the patient.

Gender influence on clinical manifestations, depressive symptoms and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) serum levels in patients affected by fibromyalgia.

INTRODUCTION: OBJECTIVES: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a common rheumatic disorder characterized by chronic, widespread pain associated with several not painful symptoms. The contribution of gender to the manifestation of the disease may influence the higher prevalence of FM among women. In spite of this, how patients' gender influences the clinical manifestation of FM is still not well understood. The frequent association with neuropsychiatric symptoms raised the attention on the role of neurotrophins, including the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as potential biomarkers of the condition. Aims of the study were to evaluate the influence of gender on clinical manifestations and to investigate BDNF serum levels as a potential biomarker of FM. METHODS: We consecutively enrolled 201 adult patients of both sexes diagnosed with FM. For each patient, we collected clinical and clinimetric data and, in a subgroup of 40 patients, we measured serum BDNF levels. BDNF levels have been measured also in 40 matched healthy controls (HC). RESULTS: Several symptoms were significantly higher in women compared with men, including pain, fatigue, memory problems, tenderness, balance problems and sensitivity to environmental stimuli. On the contrary, men reported a significant higher frequency of coexisting depressive symptoms. BDNF levels were significantly lower in FM patients compared with HC, discriminating with good accuracy the condition. CONCLUSION: Gender influences FM clinical manifestations, with a higher prevalence of pain, fatigue and other common FM symptoms among women while higher frequency of neuropsychiatric symptoms among men. BDNF offers promises as a potential biomarker of the disease. Key Points • Gender-related differences in the clinical manifestations of FM may contribute to the higher prevalence of FM among females. Indeed, women show higher levels of pain and symptoms traditionally associated to FM, which are evaluated to establish the diagnosis according to the clinical criteria. • The new insights into the pathogenesis of the disease raised the attention on the role of brain mediators in FM. Among these, BNDF shows potential as a diagnostic biomarker.

Supervised and unsupervised learning to classify scoliosis and healthy subjects based on non-invasive rasterstereography analysis.

The aim of our study was to classify scoliosis compared to to healthy patients using non-invasive surface acquisition via Video-raster-stereography, without prior knowledge of radiographic data. Data acquisitions were made using Rasterstereography; unsupervised learning was adopted for clustering and supervised learning was used for prediction model Support Vector Machine and Deep Network architectures were compared. A M-fold cross validation procedure was performed to evaluate the results. The accuracy and balanced accuracy of the best supervised model were close to 85%. Classification rates by class were measured using the confusion matrix, giving a low percentage of unclassified patients. Rasterstereography has turned out to be a good tool to distinguish subject with scoliosis from healthy patients limiting the exposure to unnecessary radiations.

Neuropathic Pain and Ultrasonography: A Multiperspective Literature Evaluation.

Among the tools useful for the management of neuropathic pain, ultrasound presents several advantages, shown by the literature. We assessed the scientific production about neuropathic pain and ultrasound from different points of view: general topics, journal categories, geographical origin and lexical analysis. We searched papers on PubMed using the Medical Subject Headings "neuropathic pain" AND "ultrasound". We collected data about the journals where the papers were published, the country of the affiliation of the first author. For the lexical analysis, we evaluated the presence of selected words in the papers, and we built a graph representing the connections among words and papers. The papers were focused on the use of ultrasound as a diagnostic tool and guide for the therapy, assessing its application in different diseases such as Morton's neuroma and piriformis syndrome. The most represented journal category was anesthesia while the most common country the United States of America. The lexical analysis confirmed the importance of ultrasound for diagnosis of specific disease and treatment of pain. The described approaches provide a multiperspective evaluation of the literature and may support the interpretation of the information contained by the papers.

The Influence of Rehabilitation on Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Clinical Study.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer survivors report negative impacts of cancer, augmented by specific vulnerabilities to body changes, negative self-assessment, and quality-of-life concerns. The main objective of our work was to test the effect of a rehabilitation program on breast cancer patients by evaluating the change in their physical well-being during an outpatient rehabilitation setting and, subsequently, in a home rehabilitation setting, considering the individual personality profile. METHODS: Patients who underwent total mastectomy with breast prostheses or tissue expanders were enrolled. Outcome assessments (Pain, Quality of Life, Personality traits for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2) before treatment (T0), at the end of the rehabilitative treatment (T1 = 10 sessions 2/week, one hour/each), and after two months of follow-up (T2) were performed. RESULTS: The data of 38 included patients were analyzed. The quadratic trend of the Visual Analogue Scale can be explained by the fact that patients have a strong reduction in the perceived pain immediately after rehabilitation in the clinic. This reduction remains constant for the home period of the rehabilitation. The personality profiles of all the participants were substantially valid. Only three patients obtained scores higher than 65 points. CONCLUSIONS: The study evidenced that in the initial phase of the rehabilitation, psychological traits such as anxiety, depression, and preoccupation could have a strong association especially with the autonomous functions and the perceived physical symptoms. However, during the therapeutic process, this association decreased and these decrements were higher when patients performed their rehabilitation at home, in a more familiar and comfortable setting.

Muscle Energy Technique in the Rehabilitative Treatment for Acute and Chronic Non-Specific Neck Pain: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Non-specific neck pain (NNP) affects 30-50% of the general population, and it often leads to severe disability. Several manual therapy techniques are available to reduce pain and disability and to improve cervical range of motion and functional activities. Muscle Energy Technique (MET) showed more evidence for treating such a disorder. The aim of this current scientific literature analysis was to compare the clinical effects of MET with the other manual or rehabilitative treatments for non-specific acute and chronic neck pain. METHODS: The literature search was conducted using the following databases: PubMed, Medline, PEDro, Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar from 2010 to January 2020. Clinical trials about MET were included. The quality of the trials was assessed according to the PEDro scale. RESULTS: Twenty-one papers according to inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected: 15 studies about non-specific acute neck pain and 6 studies about non-specific chronic neck pain. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis suggests that the MET approach has a good clinical effect on reducing neck pain in patients with acute neck pain and improves cervical range of motion in patients with chronic neck pain, and is better if combined with a traditional rehabilitative approach. This review's findings should be considered with caution for physiotherapy practice because of the studies' methodologic limitations. On the basis of the current available and limited evidence, clinicians could combine MET with traditional physiotherapy and other manual techniques when treating people with non-specific neck pain.

New Viscoelastic Hydrogel Hymovis MO.RE. Single Intra-articular Injection for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis in Sportsmen: Safety and Efficacy Study Results.

Viscosupplementation by hyaluronic acid (HA) is recommended for non-surgical management of knee osteoarthritis (OA). This study investigated the efficacy and safety of a single i.a. (32 mg/4 ml) Hymovis MO.RE. injection, a new HA derivative hydrogel, for the treatment of adult regular sports players affected by knee OA arising from overuse injuries. Patients were prospectively enrolled if regularly practicing sports and diagnosed with Kellgren-Lawrence grade I-III OA. They received a single Hymovis MO.RE. intra-articular (i.a.) injection and were evaluated 30, 90, 180, and 360 days thereafter. The assessment involved measuring changes in knee function, pain, the activity of daily living (ADL), and quality of life (QOL) by using the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), GAIT analysis, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores for knee pain (WOMAC A) and function (WOMAC C), and a visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score. The study involved thirty-one patients, 23 women and eight men, whose median age was 49. KOOS function subscore, as well as GAIT cadence and velocity, showed a statistically significant increase at each time-point after injection (p < 0.0001). WOMAC, KOOS pain, symptoms, ADL, and QOL scores also significantly improved at all control visits. No severe adverse events or treatment-related events were detected. A single Hymovis MO.RE. (32 mg/4 ml) intra-articular injection provides a rapid, lasting, and safe response in regular sports players affected by knee OA, possibly representing a viable therapeutic option for this demanding patient subgroup. Further investigations are necessary to confirm these findings.

Integration of focal vibration and intra-articular oxygen-ozone therapy in rehabilitation of painful knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the pain-reducing effects of intra-articular oxygen-ozone (O2O3) injections and mechanical focal vibration (mFV) versus O2O3 injections alone in patients with knee osteoarthritis. METHODS: Patients with chronic pain (>6 weeks) due to knee osteoarthritis (II-III on the Kellgren-Lawrence scale) were consecutively enrolled and divided into two groups: O2O3 (n = 25) and O2O3-mFV (n = 24). The visual analog scale (VAS), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and Medical Research Council (MRC) Manual Muscle Testing scale were administered at baseline (before treatment), after 3 weeks of treatment, and 1 month after the end of treatment. Patients received three once-weekly intra-articular injections of O2O3 into the knee (20 mL O3, 20 µg/mL). The O2O3-mFV group also underwent nine sessions of mFV (three sessions per week). RESULTS: The VAS score, KOOS, and MRC score were significantly better in the O2O3-mFV than O2O3 group. The within-group analysis showed that all scores improved over time compared with baseline and were maintained even 1 month after treatment. No adverse events occurred. CONCLUSION: An integrated rehabilitation protocol involving O2O3 injections and mFV for 3 weeks reduces pain, increases autonomy in daily life activities, and strengthens the quadriceps femoris.

Rehabilitative Good Practices in the Treatment of Sarcopenia: A Narrative Review.

ABSTRACT: To date, rehabilitative good practices that analyze all aspects of the rehabilitation management of the patient with sarcopenia are absent in the literature. The purpose of this article is to carry out research and evaluation of the evidence, good practice, and recommendations in the literature relating to the rehabilitative treatment of disabilities associated with sarcopenia. Bibliographic research was conducted on Medline, PEDro, Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar. All articles published in the last 10 yrs were analyzed. The results of this research generated three guidelines, eight meta-analyses, five systematic reviews, a Cochrane review, 17 reviews, and seven consensus conferences. From the analysis of the literature, it seems that most of the works agree in affirming that exercise and diet supplementation are the cornerstones of rehabilitation treatment of patients with sarcopenia. The practice of an adequate lifestyle received numerous high-grade recommendations in the included guidelines. Based on the data obtained, the rehabilitation management of the patient with sarcopenia must be personalized and must include exercise and nutritional supplementation. These factors are important in increasing the autonomy of the elderly essential for safe walking without neglecting stretching exercises that are important for flexibility and balance and coordination exercises.

State of the evidence about rehabilitation interventions in patients with dysphagia.

INTRODUCTION: Rather than a separate nosological entity, dysphagia must be considered as a symptom of other pathological conditions, which afflicts patients admitted to numerous medical departments (rehabilitation, neurology, geriatrics, internal medicine, etc.) These disorders share the need for timely access to quality care and multidisciplinary treatment, including rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to conduct a review of the current guidelines' recommendations in the literature and provide recommendations on the rehabilitative management of the patient with dysphagia. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The search was carried out through the main databases (Medline, Pedro, Cochrane Database and Google Scholar). All the articles concerning rehabilitation management of dysphagia, published in the last 10 years, have been included. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Bibliographic research has provided thirteen guidelines. The literature analysed focuses mainly on the screening, the evaluation and the planning of multidisciplinary treatment. The literature agrees in recommending as cornerstones in the treatment of the dysphagic patient dietary changes, rehabilitation training (particularly muscle strengthening exercises and coordination) and early use of alternative nutrition in patients severely compromised. CONCLUSIONS: The dysphagic patient requires the deployment of a range of skills by a multi-professional and multi-disciplinary team. Speech and language pathologists in cooperation with specialists of rehabilitation have the task of managing the various stages, ranging from the early identification of the symptom to the setting of the treatment plan. Due to the lack of standardized protocols, it is necessary to implement the research path, especially regarding rehabilitation intervention.

The recovery of reaching movement in breast cancer survivors: two different rehabilitative protocols in comparison.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women in the developed world. The about the sequelae of surgery, especially in case of mastectomy or modified radical mastectomy is grown. Nowadays it is important choose appropriate exercise programs to allow recovery in "quantity" but also in "quality" of the movement of the operated upper limb. AIM: The aim of this study was to verify whether specific exercises for the scapula may induce changes in fluidity of the reaching movement. DESIGN: Randomized control-trial double-blind study. SETTING: Exercise training laboratory and gait analysis laboratory. POPULATION: Sixty-three breast cancer survivors were enrolled. METHODS: Participants randomized to single rehabilitative treatment (ST), or to group rehabilitative treatment (GT). VAS, DASH and a biomechanical evaluation of upper limb were performed for each group before treatment (T0=baseline), at the end rehabilitative treatment (T1) and after three months of follow-up (T2). RESULTS: Respect within group analysis, in the ST and in the GT, for VAS an improvement along evaluation times were observed, respectively at T0 to T1 and at T0 to T2 (P<0.001) without a statistically significant difference between groups. At the same, for the DASH, the results showed the same trend without a statistically significant difference between groups. For biomechanical parameters, at T2 velocity was statistically significantly greater in the ST than in the GT (P=0.029) in contrast with the duration, that was statistically significantly greater in the GT than in the ST (P=0.010). CONCLUSIONS: Both protocols are effective in reducing pain and for functional recovery of the upper limb. The adoption of a non-intensive rehabilitation program should be implemented at least in the first year after the operation, with the adoption of specific myofascial exercises on the scapulo-thoracic joint with better results in the "qualitative" recovery of the achievement. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Our study emphasizes the importance of rehabilitation in BC survivors after mastectomy, even during the course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and the adoption of specific myofascial exercises on the scapulo-thoracic joint and specific exercises of muscular stretching on the pectoral muscle. Therefore, the proposed rehabilitation protocol must be "clipped" and "integrated" according to the specific objectives for each individual patient.

The sequelae of mastectomy and quadrantectomy with respect to the reaching movement in breast cancer survivors: evidence for an integrated rehabilitation protocol during oncological care.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women in developed countries. Several types of surgical interventions are commonly used in BC, such as mastectomy and quadrantectomy, followed by radiation or not. Today, BC rehabilitation can help survivors obtain and maintain the highest physical, social, psychological, and vocational functioning possible, within the limits that are created by cancer and its treatments. OBJECTIVE: To verify, before and after a specific rehabilitation protocol treatment, the recovery of the fluidity of the reaching movement. METHODS: Patients after BC surgery were enrolled and assigned by cluster randomization into 2 groups through a block randomization list: mastectomy (Mas) and quadrantectomy (Quad). Evaluation scales (DASH and VAS) were administered, and biomechanical evaluations were performed for each group before treatment (T0 = baseline), at the end of the rehabilitative treatment (T1 = 12 sessions, 2/week), and after 3 months of follow-up (T2). RESULTS: Fifty-nine (Mas group = 29; Quad group = 30) after BC surgery were enrolled. VAS scores improved along the evaluation times at T0-T1 and T0-T2 (p < 0.001), without a statistically significant difference between groups. With regard to the normalized jerk, there was no significant interaction between time group (F = 2.029; p = 0.136). There was a significant decrease between T0-T1 and T1-T2 (F = 60.189; p < 0.001). Velocity improved significantly between T0-T1 and T1-T2 (F = 10.322; p < 0.001). There was a significant interaction for the elbow angle at the end of movement between time and group at T2 (F = 5.022; p = 0.029). CONCLUSION: The integrated, low-intensity, rehabilitative intervention is effective, even if it is not performed in the first period after BC surgery, without any difference between mastectomy and quadrantectomy.

Rehabilitation setting during and after Covid-19: An overview on recommendations.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to identify the best evidence to define rehabilitative approaches to acute and post-acute phases of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease. METHODS: A literature search (of PubMed, Google Scholar, PEDro and Cochrane databases) was perform-ed for relevant publications from January to April 2020. RESULTS: A total of 2,835 articles were retrieved, and the search resulted in a final total 31 published arti-cles. A narrative synthesis of the selected articles was then performed. Some studies examine the effect of the pandemic on rehabilitation services and provide suggestions for a new reorganization of these services. Other studies focus on COVID-19 sequelae, formulating recommendations for rehabilitative interventions. CONCLUSION: For COVID-19 patients, an integrated rehabilitative process is recommended, involving a multidisciplinary and multi-professional team provid-ing neuromuscular, cardiac, respiratory, and swallowing interventions, and psychological support, in order to improve patients' quality of life. The intervention of a physician expert in rehabilitation should assess the patient, and a dedicated intervention set up after thorough assessment of the patient's clinical condition, in collaboration with all rehabilitation team professionals.

The reaching movement in breast cancer survivors: Attention to the principles of rehabilitation.

INTRODUCTION: Breast-cancer is leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women. The prognosis and survival rate of women with breast-cancer have significantly improved worldwide; more attention needs to be paid to rehabilitative interventions after surgery. This paper describes use of reaching movement to assess upper limb motorcontrol and functional ability after breast-cancer surgery (BC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study consisting of biomechanical evaluation of upper limb limitations in women BC, versus a controlgroup (CG). Thirty breast-cancer survivors and thirty healthy women participated in this study. Both groups were subjected to clinical evaluation of the shoulder joint ROM on the operated side, as an assessment of the muscular-strength of the shoulder with the MRC-scale. The Functional-Assessment was evaluated by the DASH and Constant-Murley-Score. The EORTC QLQ-C30 and VAS were used to measure the quality of life assessment and pain respectively. A Biomechanical evaluation was performed, using Reaching-Task and Surface-EMG. RESULTS: Normal Jerk for BC was higher than CG. Target approaching velocity and movement duration BC was lower than CG. Synergy Anterior Deltoid/Triceps Brachii muscles in CG was higher than BC.

[An evaluation of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in physiotherapists: a systematic review.] / Valutazione dei disturbi muscolo scheletrici lavoro correlato nei fisioterapisti: Revisione Sistematica.

SUMMARY: Background. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) have been described as one of the major causes of physical pain and disability. Health professions, in general, are among those at higher risk of injury. Objective. The aim of the study was to carry out a systematic review of cross-sectional studies on physical-physiotherapeutic musculoskeletal disorders in physiotherapists. Materials and Methods. Bibliographic research was carried out through the PUBMED, PEDRO, and CINAHL databases. The selected articles had to comply with the following inclusion criteria: original peer review articles, English and Italian articles, cross-sectional studies with sample sizes of at least 25 physiotherapists, and no time limit. Results. In general, the results of studies on the WRMDs of physiotherapists have been comparable, with the exception of some differences between the various countries linked to both the level of development and the psychosocial and epidemiological status of the physiotherapy profession. Healthcare workers are among the professional categories most exposed to work-related musculoskeletal disorders because they are in direct contact with the patient, which often requires an important physical commitment to lifting and relocating patients for long-held incongruous postures, for repetitive movements, for joint effort, and for overload in manual techniques.

Movement Analysis with Inertial Measurement Unit Sensor After Surgical Treatment for Distal Radius Fractures.

Inertial measurement unit (IMU) has recently been used to evaluate a movement of a body segment to provide accurate information of movement's characteristics. IMU systems have been validated to successfully measure joint angle during upper limb range of motion (ROM). The study aimed to retrospectively evaluate, using an IMU, the ROM recovery of the wrist after surgical treatment for distal-radius fractures with Kirschner wire fixation (KWF) or with volar plate fixation (VPF) and screws. To assess pain in the wrist joint, muscle-fatigue (MF), and functional difficulties in activities of daily living, we evaluated the patients through patient-related wrist evaluation questionnaire (PRWE) scale, disability of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) scale, Hand Grip Strength (HGS), and surface electromyography (EMG). We used a single IMU composed of three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer, and a magnetometer. We calculated the value of ROM as a percentage with respect to the unaffected wrist. We also recorded surface-EMG signals over biceps brachialis, flexor carpi radialis (FCR), extensor carpi radialis (ECR), and pronator teres muscles. Forty patients were recruited for our study. Ulnar deviation (UD) was significantly higher for VPF than for KWF (p = 0.017); supination was significantly higher for VPF than for KWF (p = 0.031). The percentage of decay of the median frequency of FCR of volar plate was significantly higher than KWF. The HGS of KWF was significantly higher than VPF. In literature, there were no significant differences between the two types of treatment at long-term follow-up. Our results demonstrate a superior efficacy of VPF in terms of ROM improvement in UD and supination, but for these patients, muscle fatigue is greater than the KWF group. Based on the data available, VPF is similar to KWF for the treatment of distal radius fractures. The IMU sensor could be used in the future to evaluate ROM after surgery during patient's rehabilitation and to compare the effects with stratified analysis regarding age and fracture type, paralleled with cost-effectiveness analysis.