The effectiveness of continuous passive motion on range of motion, pain and muscle strength following rotator cuff repair: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence on the effect of continuous passive motion, combined with usual physiotherapy management, on increasing shoulder joint range of motion and muscle strength, and reducing shoulder pain in adults following rotator cuff repair, compared with standard physiotherapy. DATA SOURCES: A comprehensive search in available bibliographic electronic databases was undertaken to locate eligible studies. Reference tracing was also used to locate studies. REVIEW METHODS: Randomized controlled trials reporting on the effect of continuous passive motion on increasing shoulder joint range of motion and muscle strength and reducing shoulder pain in adults following rotator cuff repair were included in the review. The PEDro scale was used to determine the methodological quality of the studies. Data were summarized in a narrative form because of their heterogeneity. RESULTS: Four randomized controlled trials were eligible for this review. One Japanese article was excluded as the text was unavailable in English. The methodological quality of the included studies averaged 7.67. Continuous passive motion was found to improve shoulder range of motion in two studies. One study found a decrease in pain in the intervention group and one study found that continuous passive motion improves muscle strength. CONCLUSION: Continuous passive motion is safe to use with physiotherapy treatment following rotator cuff repair surgery. It may help to prevent secondary complications post operatively.

Development of a pediatric obstructive sleep apnea triage algorithm.

INTRODUCTION: Diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children is often delayed due to the high prevalence and limited physician and sleep testing resources. As a result, children may be referred to multiple specialties, such as pediatric sleep medicine and pediatric otolaryngology, resulting in long waitlists. METHOD: We used data from our pediatric OSA clinic to identify predictors of tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy (AT). Before being seen in the clinic, parents completed the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) and screening questionnaires for restless leg syndrome (RLS), nasal rhinitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Tonsil size data were obtained from patient charts and graded using the Brodsky-five grade scale. Children completed an overnight oximetry study before being seen in the clinic, and a McGill oximetry score (MOS) was assigned based on the number and depth of oxygen desaturations. Logistic regression, controlling for otolaryngology physician, was used to identify significant predictors of AT. Three triage algorithms were subsequently generated based on the univariate and multivariate results to predict AT. RESULTS: From the OSA cohort, there were 469 eligible children (47% female, mean age = 8.19 years, SD = 3.59), with 89% of children reported snoring. Significant predictors of AT in univariate analysis included tonsil size and four PSQ questions, (1) struggles to breathe at night, (2) apneas, (3) daytime mouth breathing, and (4) AM dry mouth. The first triage algorithm, only using the four PSQ questions, had an odds ratio (OR) of 4.02 for predicting AT (sensitivity = 0.28, specificity = 0.91). Using only tonsil size, the second algorithm had an OR to predict AT of 9.11 (sensitivity = 0.72, specificity = 0.78). The third algorithm, where MOS was used to stratify risk for AT among those children with 2+ tonsils, had the same OR, sensitivity, and specificity as the tonsil-only algorithm. CONCLUSION: Tonsil size was the strongest predictor of AT, while oximetry helped stratify individual risk for AT. We recommend that referral letters for snoring children include graded tonsil size to aid in the triage based on our findings. Children with 2+ tonsil sizes should be triaged to otolaryngology, while the remainder should be referred to a pediatric sleep specialist.