[Complication of post radiation in patients with head and neck cancer]

Radiotherapy is a main therapeutic regiment in the treatment of head and neck cancers. Radiation not only eradicate cancer but it also cause damage to healthy surrounding tissues, giving rise to objective and subjective problems. This study was done to evaluate the subjective complications of post radiation in patients with head and neck cancer. This descriptive -analytic study was carried out on 45 patients with head and neck cancer [28 males and 17 females] whom were gone under radiotherapy in Rasht, Iran. Subjective complications evaluated before, during, 1 month and 3 months after radiotherapy. Persian version of LENT-SOMA questionnaire was used. Pain, xerostomia, dysphagia, trismus and dysgeusia were recorded for each subject. 80% of subjects experienced Pain. In the study period, pain intensity, frequency and analgesic consumption were belonging to ear and throat. One month after post radiation, pain intensity, frequency and analgesic consumption belong to ear, throat, jaw, mouth and teeth which were significantly more than 3 months after radiotherapy [P<0.05]. One month after post treatment, xerostomia, dysphagia, trismus and dysgeusia were significantly more than 3 months after radiotherapy [P<0.05]. Pain in ear and jaw had significant correlation with radiation dosage [P<0.05]. Intensity of subjective complains were aggravated and merge one month after radiotherapy and can be reduced to nearly the initial stage of treatment, three months after radiotherapy

Effect of manual lymph drainage massage on hand edema and shoulder pain in hemiplegic-paretic patients post stroke

Shoulder pain and hand edema associated with hemiparesia and hemiplegia are common complications after the stroke and restricts the patient's daily activities. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of manual lymph drainage [MLD] massage on hand edema and shoulder pain in hemiplegic-paretic patients post stroke. In this randomized clinical trial study, 62 stroke patients with age ranging of 35-70 years and having shoulder pain and hand edema associated with hemiparesia or hemiplegia were selected and randomly divided into two groups of case and control. Then, manual lymph drainage massage [MLD] was performed in the case group for five sessions and each session last 20 minutes. The MLD was not performed for the control group. Sensory, affective, intensity and general condition of shoulder pain and also circle size of wrist and middle part of the arm were assessed using of McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form: [MPQ-SF] and tape gauge, before and 24 hours after last session of MLD in both the case and control group. The acquired data were analyzed using independent t and paired t-tests. The means of sensory components of shoulder pain before and after massage was 2.3 +/- 0.9 and 1.3 +/- 0.4, respectively [p<0.05]. Based on the Visual Analogue Scale [VAS], the mean of shoulder pain intensity, after massage, in the case and control group was 3.3 +/- 1.2 and 4.8 +/- 1.5, respectively. The mean of arm circle size before and after massage in the case group was 29 +/- 4.6 and 28.1 +/- 3.9 centimeter, and in the control group was 29.4 +/- 4.1 and 29.7 +/- 3.9 centimeter, respectively [p<0.05]. Also, the mean of wrist circle size, before and after massage in case group was 17.2 +/- 1.1 and 16.4 +/- 0.9 centimeter, while in the control group, it was 16.9 +/- 0.8 and 17.1 +/- 1.1 centimeter, respectively [p<0.05]. Based on the results of this study application of MLD by the health care personnel would be effective in prevention or decrease of shoulder pain and hand edema

Electrodiagnostic study of peripheral nervous system [PNS] in 30 patients with multiple myeloma

Involvement of the peripheral nervous system is one of the complications of multiple myeloma with a varying incidence of clinical and subclinical neuropathy in different studies. As most of the patients with multiple myeloma suffer from generalized systemic symptoms such as malaise, bone and low back pain, the clinical clues to the diagnosis of the neuropathy in its initial stages could be ignored. In this study, we tried to determine the frequency of peripheral nervous system involvement in these patients by electromyography/nerve conduction [EMG/NCV] studies. This cross-sectional descriptive study of 30 patients with multiple myeloma revealed that 70% of cases showed peripheral nervous system involvement, of whom 57% were found to be asymptomatic and 43% symptomatic for peripheral nervous system disease. The pattern of peripheral nervous system involvement was polyneuropathy [62%] followed by radiculopathy and carpal tunnel syndrome, 52% and 29%, respectively. Most of the neuropathies were of the sensorimotor axonal type. L5, S 1 roots were the most common sites of radiculopathies. Therefore we conclude that the frequency of subclinical peripheral nervous system involvement in multiple myeloma patients was so rampant that evaluation of multiple myeloma patients with EMG/NCV studies was necessary