Early short-term inpatient psychotherapeutic treatment versus continued outpatient psychotherapy on psychosocial outcome: a randomized controlled trial in trauma patients.

BACKGROUND: Inpatient psychotherapeutic support has been shown to reduce mental health problems in severely injured patients. However, this effect mostly disappears after discharge. The aim of this study was to compare short-term inpatient versus continued long-term outpatient psychotherapeutic support. METHODS: Patients with at least two injuries of a combined Abbreviated Injury Scale Severity Score Index≥5 were included in the study. Of 862 screened patients, 113 met all inclusion criteria. They were randomly assigned to a short-term group (n=59), where only inpatient support was given, and a long-term group (n=54), with additional outpatient sessions. The cognitive behavioral treatment was standardized by a manual. Psychological assessment for depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was performed in written form at the time of inclusion, discharge, and 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months after trauma. RESULTS: Forty-one percent (n=46) of all patients completed follow-up visits. The results show that symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD disappeared more often in the long-term group than in the short-term group 1 year after trauma. Differences nearly reach significance for anxiety (p=0.051) and PTSD (p=0.059). Twenty-one percent of the short-term group patients showed at least one mental health disorder compared with no patients in the long-term group 1 year after trauma (p=0.035). CONCLUSION: Psychotherapeutic support of severely injured patients seems to be more effective in reducing depression, anxiety, and PTSD if extended further into outpatient care. This conclusion should be considered preliminary because of the small number of study patients.

The neurofunctional mechanisms of traumatic and non-traumatic memory in patients with acute PTSD following accident trauma.

Neurofunctional alterations in acute posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and changes thereof during the course of the disease are not well investigated. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the functional neuroanatomy of emotional memory in surgical patients with acute PTSD. Traumatic (relative to non-traumatic) memories increased neural activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, lateral temporal, retrosplenial, and anterior cingulate cortices. These regions are all implicated in memory and emotion. A comparison of findings with data on chronic PTSD suggests that brain circuits affected by the acute disorder are extended and unstable while chronic disease is characterized by circumscribed and stable neurofunctional abnormalities.

Interpretation of surface EMGs in children with cerebral palsy: An initial study using a fuzzy expert system.

Surface EMG detected simultaneously at different muscles has become an important tool for analysing the gait of children with cerebral palsy (CP), as it offers essential information about muscular coordination. However, the interpretation of surface EMG is a difficult task that assumes extensive knowledge and experience. As such, this noninvasive procedure is not frequently used in the general clinical routine. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) system for interpreting surface EMG signals and the resulting muscular coordination patterns could overcome these limitations. To support such interpretation, an expert system based on fuzzy inference methodology was developed. The knowledge-base of the system implemented 15 rules, from which the fuzzy inference methodology performs a prediction of the effectiveness of the muscular coordination during gait. Our aim was to assess the feasibility and value of such an expert system in clinical applications. Surface EMG signals were recorded from the tibialis anterior, soleus muscle, and gastrocnemius muscles of children with CP to assess muscular coordination patterns of ankle movement during gait. Nineteen children underwent 114 surface EMG measurements. Simultaneously, the gait cycles of each patient were determined using foot switches and videotapes. From the EMG signals, the effectiveness of the ankle movement was predicted by the expert system, and predictions were classified using a three-point ordinal scale. In 91 cases (80%), the clinical findings matched the predictions of the expert system. In 23 cases (20%) the predictions of the expert system differed from the clinical findings with 12 cases revealing worse and 11 cases revealing better results in comparison to the clinical findings. As this study is a first attempt to verify the feasibility and correctness of this expert system, the results are promising. Further study is required to assess the correlation with the kinematic data and to include the whole leg.

Surface pretreatments for medical application of adhesion.

Medical implants and prostheses (artificial hips, tendono- and ligament plasties) usually are multi-component systems that may be machined from one of three material classes: metals, plastics and ceramics. Typically, the body-sided bonding element is bone. The purpose of this contribution is to describe developments carried out to optimize the techniques, connecting prosthesis to bone, to be joined by an adhesive bone cement at their interface. Although bonding of organic polymers to inorganic or organic surfaces and to bone has a long history, there remains a serious obstacle in realizing long-term high-bonding strengths in the in vivo body environment of ever present high humidity. Therefore, different pretreatments, individually adapted to the actual combination of materials, are needed to assure long term adhesive strength and stability against hydrolysis. This pretreatment for metal alloys may be silica layering; for PE-plastics, a specific plasma activation; and for bone, amphiphilic layering systems such that the hydrophilic properties of bone become better adapted to the hydrophobic properties of the bone cement. Amphiphilic layering systems are related to those developed in dentistry for dentine bonding. Specific pretreatment can significantly increase bond strengths, particularly after long term immersion in water under conditions similar to those in the human body. The bond strength between bone and plastic for example can be increased by a factor approaching 50 (pealing work increasing from 30 N/m to 1500 N/m). This review article summarizes the multi-disciplined subject of adhesion and adhesives, considering the technology involved in the formation and mechanical performance of adhesives joints inside the human body.

Standardized qualitative evaluation of scar tissue properties in an animal wound healing model.

There is a great need to establish reproducible methods for evaluative studies of wound treatment and wound healing. Validation of the healing process through optical techniques, as well as histologic and immunohistochemical methodologies, have been improved and to some extent have become well-established assays. Data relating to biomechanical properties, e.g., evaluation of the tensile strength of scar tissue that forms in experimental wound treatment strategies, are less widely available. We chose the domestic pig as an animal model in which to examine epidermal wound healing. We implanted specially made chambers that served to isolate the wounds and prevent epidermal migration from the edges. We performed histologic and immunohistochemical analyses as well as evaluation of biomechanical qualities of scar tissue using laser tensiometry. Pig skin is well suited for wound healing studies, and wound creation, implantation of the chambers, and the regular changing of dressings could all be carried out in the operating theater. In addition to established macroscopic evaluation and microscopic documentation, the need for objective biomechanical assessment of scar tissue by measuring tensile strength has been met using laser tensiometry. By optimizing methods for measuring tensile strength, it is possible to evaluate the biomechanical quality of scar tissue formed following different courses of wound treatment, as well as histologic assessment.

Neural processing of traumatic events in subjects suffering PTSD - a case study of two surgical patients with severe accident trauma.

Neuroimaging research on the neurobiology of chronic PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) has revealed structural and functional alterations primarily affecting areas of the medial temporal lobe (hippocampus, amygdala, and parahippocampal gyrus) and the frontal cortex known to be associated with the disorder. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the present study studied the functional neuroanatomy of traumatic and non-traumatic emotional memory in two surgical patients who had sustained severe accident trauma. While patient 1 had developed acute PTSD following the traumatic event, patient 2 (control) did not. When confronted with traumatic (relative to negatively valenced non-traumatic) memory, the PTSD patient exhibited evidence for increased neural activity in the right and the left superior temporal lobe, the amygdala, the left angular gyrus, and the medial frontal gyrus, while the non-PTSD patient exposed to identical conditions showed increased activations in frontal and parietal regions. Both patients exhibited identical activation patterns when recalling non-traumatic memories relative to neutral memories. It is concluded that the pronounced activation patterns in the PTSD patient may be considered specific for acute PTSD, involved with the emotional arousal and the vivid visual recollections typical for the acute phase of the disorder.