[Gonarthrosis concurrent with chronic venous insufficiency: a new look at therapy]. / Gonartroz v sochetanii s khronicheskoi venoznoi nedostatochnost'iu: novyi vzgliad na terapiiu.

AIM: To study the possibility and feasibility of using terahertz-modulated infrared radiation in the treatment of patients with gonarthrosis, including those with concomitant chronic lower limb venous insufficiency and to develop a specific treatment procedure. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 92 patients were examined and treated. The patients matched for age, gender, and main clinical manifestations were divided into a study group and a control one. All the patients received disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, therapeutic exercises, including those in a swimming pool. In addition to the basic treatment, the patients in the study group had terahertz-modulated infrared radiotherapy. Before and after treatment, all the patients underwent a physical examination; their complaints were studied; pain severity was assessed by a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain; lower limb temperature was measured by infrared beam thermography; and microcirculation in the affected knee joint area was analyzed by laser Doppler flowmetry. RESULTS: Analysis of posttreatment changes in clinical manifestations in the study group revealed a significant reversion of clinical manifestations, such as knee joint pain occurring at the end of the day or in the first half of the night (from 42.6 to 15.3%), as well as pain occurring after mechanical load and reducing at rest (from 72.3 to 25.5%). The changes in mean VAS scores in the study group (from 6.1±0.7 to 2.1±0.6) were significantly pronounced (p<0.01) compared with those in the controls (from 6.6±0.7 to 4.3±0.4). Infrared beam thermography established that the study group had a decrease in the thermal asymmetry value between varicose veins and adjacent tissues, indicating a hemodynamic improvement in the lower extremity vessels (by 1.57±0.07 °C in the study group (p<0.05) versus 0.91±0.04 °C in the control group (p<0.05). The ongoing package of rehabilitation measures assisted in reducing the temperature difference between the affected vein area and adjacent tissues. CONCLUSION: The incorporation of terahertz-modulated infrared radiation into a therapeutic complex was found to have a positive impact on the clinical symptoms of the disease, the state of local hemodynamics and microcirculation, which substantially enhances the efficiency of therapy.

[Physical therapy of psoriasis. The modern methodological approaches].

This article describes the modern approaches to the application of physical factors for the treatment of various forms of psoriasis taking into consideration the severity of clinical manifestations and the phase of the disease, the extent of disturbances of the functional state of different organs. The principles of prescription of physiotherapeutictreatmnt are formulated taking account of the stages and forms of the disease. Special attention is paid to the high therapeutic effectiveness of ultraviolet irradiation of the skin including narrow-band UVВ (311 nm) as well as to photodynamic therapy (PUVA), intravenous laser irradiation of blood, and ozone therapy. Also considered is the spa and health resort-based treatment and peloid therapy at various stages of the pathological process. The application of the combined techniques is described with special reference to radon and hydrogen sulfide baths and microwave therapy in the patients presenting with psoriatic arthritis. Much attention is given to the effectiveness of the prescription of the spa and health resort-based treatment at the stationary and regressive stages of psoriasis. The pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the therapeutic action of the physical factors used for the treatment of patients suffering from psoriasis are discussed.

[Scoliosis in the children: the new approaches to the treatment and rehabilitation]. / Skolioz u detei: novye podkhody k lecheniiu i reabilitatsii.

Scoliosis is the most widespread orthopaedic condition affecting both the children and the adolescents. The electrostatic field is known to promote the development of vibrations of varying strength in the biological tissues and their penetration rather deep into their interior. AIM: The objective of the present study was to elucidate the possibilities and practicability of the application of a low-frequency electrostatic field for the conservative treatment of grade I and II scoliosis in the children and to develop the scientifically sound substantiation for the use of this technique in the clinical practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined and treated 94 children randomly divided into two groups (main and control) matched for the age and major clinical manifestation of the disease. All the patients received basic therapy. Those in the study group were additionally given low-frequency electrostatic therapy. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The comparative analysis of the results of the treatment gave evidence that the application of a low-frequency electrostatic field for the conservative treatment of grade I and II scoliosis in the children resulted in the well apparent positive changes in their health status. These changes manifested themselves in the favourable dynamics of both the clinical symptoms of the disease and as the improvement of the topographic and thermographic characteristics. Of special importance is the alleviation of the symptoms of scoliotic deformation of the vertebral column under effect of the low-frequency electrostatic field. CONCLUSION: The present study has demonstrated that the application of the low-frequency electrostatic field significantly increases the effectiveness of the treatment of grade I and II scoliosis in the children and adolescents and promotes regression of this pathological condition.

[The application of general magnetic therapy for the rehabilitation of the patients following the surgical treatment of herniated intervertebral discs]. / Obshchaia magnitoterapiia v reabilitatsii patsientov posle operativnogo lecheniia gryzh mezhpozvonkovykh diskov.

AIM: The objective of the present work was to rehabilitate more efficiently the patients who had undergone the surgical treatment for herniated discs in the lumbosacral spine by applying general magnetic therapy during the combined treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 73 patients underwent the medical examination and treatment. The patients matched for age and sex presenting with similar clinical symptoms were divided into two groups. All of them received initial therapy that included medication, therapeutic physical exercises, and aquatic therapy. The patients in the main study group were given, in addition, general magnetic therapy. All the patients had their lower back examined before and after the treatment; moreover, they were asked to report their pain intensity based on the visual-analogue scale. The patients had their spinal and lower extremity temperature measured by means of thermal scanning with the use of remote infrared thermography and the non-invasive thermal imaging to check temperature fluctuations. To evaluate the psycho-emotional condition of the patients and to obtain their quality of life characteristics, they were asked to fill up the WAM (wellbeing, activity, mood) questionnaire; moreover, the disability Index was determined using the Oswestry questionnaire (version 2.1.), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was employed. RESULTS: 75.7% of the patients in the main group had the positive treatment results in the form of improvement of the affected movement skills, sensory processing abilities, and reflex functions as compared with the 58,3% success rate among the patients in the control groupd. Based on the data of non-invasive infrared thermal imaging, the patients of the main group had significantly lower post-treatment topical hyperthermia in the region of the surgical intervention in comparison with the controls which suggested the reduction of the severity of the inflammatory process and the manifestations of the muscular-tonic syndrome. Their temperature dropped by 1,46±0,07 °Ð¡ in contrast to the patients of the control group whose temperature decreased only by 0,91±0,04 °Ð¡ (р<0.05). These observations gave evidence that the inflammation had been alleviated and the muscle tension relieved. The adopted recovery program promoted, in addition, a temperature drop at the area of the skin innervated by the affected root. It has been found that not only the pain subsided and the compromised motor skills and sensory processing abilities improved but also the quality of life tended to ameliorate resulting in the occupational rehabilitation of the patients following the surgical treatment of herniated intervertebral discs. CONCLUSION: It has been found that the addition of general magnetic therapy to the combined treatment of the patients who had undergone the surgical treatment of herniated intervertebral discs favourably affects the clinical symptoms of the disease, intensifies regeneration, as well as improves blood circulation in the area affected by surgery, improves the psychoemotional state and the quality of life of the patients in such conditions thus making therapy considerably more efficient by preventing the complications and significantly shortening the duration of the treatment. .

[Ozonotherapy as an efficient component of the combined treatment of the patients presenting with bacterial vaginosis].

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the combined treatment of the patients suffering from bacterial vaginosis using various methods of ozone therapy. The comprehensive clinical and laboratory examination and treatment involved 102 patients of the child-bearing age divided into 3 groups, matched for the age and the main clinical manifestations of the disease. All the patients comprising group IlIl received basic therapy alone while the treatment of the patients of group I consisted of local ozone therapy and that of the patients of group 11 of the combination of local and general ozone therapy. The study has demonstrated the enhanced effectiveness of the combined local and general ozone therapy compared with the two other modalities and the feasibility of its application for the treatment of the patients presenting with bacterial vaginosis.