ABSTRACT
Objective • To investigate the safety and efficacy of focused low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (FLIPUS) therapy on the patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Methods • A total of 100 subjects with KOA from August 2018 to August 2019 in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University were sequentially randomized into group A and group B. Among them, FLIPUS was adopted to treat the 50 patients in group A, and the diclofenac sodium was adopted to treat the other 50 patients in group B. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and Lequesne index (LI) were used to evaluate knee joint pain, the structure and function of the affected knee joint, and the severity of the affected knee joint at baseline, on day 3, day 6 and day 10 after treatment respectively. The knee range of motion (KROM) and maximum walking speed (MWS) were used to evaluate the knee joint movement and walking function at baseline and on day 10 after treatment respectively. Results • There were on significant differences between two groups with respect to KOA evaluation indexes (P>0.05). Compared with those in group B, patients in group A showed significant improvements in VAS and WOMAC scores on day 6 and day 10 after treatment (P=0.021, P=0.000; P=0.005, P=0.001). Meanwhile, patients in group A had higher LI scores than those in group B on day 10 after treatment (P=0.000). In addition, patients in group A showed significant improvements in MWS (P=0.006) and non-significant improvements in KROM (P=0.064) on day 10 after treatment. Conclusion • FLIPUS is a safe and effective treatment modality for relieving pain and improving the functions of patients with KOA.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in treating severe and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods Seventy-eight COPD patients were randomly divided into an NMES group of 38 and an exercise therapy group of 32.In addition to the routine drug therapy and basic rehabilitation training,the NMES group received 8 weeks of NMES of the lower limbs while the exercise group was provided with strength and endurance training of the lower limbs,also for 8 wceks.Before and after the 8 weeks of treatment,pulmonary function was tested along with isokinetic quadriceps strength,cardiopulnonary capacity,and lung capacity using Saint George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ).Results The two groups showed no significant difference in any of the measurements before the treatment.After the treatment,forced expiratory volume in 1 second of (FEV1),FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC),FEVI in percentage of the predicted value,medical research council dyspnea scale (MRC) score and the 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) improved in both groups.However,the average body mass index and 6 minute walk distance differed significantly between the groups after the treatment.The quadriceps' peak torque increased after the treatment in both groups,but the average in the exercise group was significantly higher than that in the NMES group.VO2max and Wmax also increased significantly in both groups,and the average time to exhaustion increased significantly in the exercise group.Significant improvement was observed in the BODE assessment after the intervention for both groups.Conclusion Neuromuscular electrical stimulation is as effective as therapeutic exercise in promoting the rehabilitation of severe COPD patients.However,lower limbs exercise is still the first choice in managing such patients.
ABSTRACT
Objective To assess the use of the Chinese version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in differentiating Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD).Methods A total of 62 patients with AD and 54 patients with VD were recruited for this study.All subjects were subject to examination using MoCA to collect information in terms of their visuospatial/executive function,attention,language,abstraction delayed recall and orientation.The demographic data of the subjects was also were collected and analyzed.Results It was shown that there were statistically significant differences between the AD and VD patients with regard to their scores of visuospatial / executive,attention,delayed recall (P ＜ 0.05).The rate of diagnostic coincidence was 100％ in AD patients using MoCA Chinese version,and 98.15％ in VD patients,with a statistically significant difference between the two groups.There was high correlation in all items of MoCA between the two evaluators (ICC:0.911 ～1.000).Conclusion Montreal Cognitive Assessment Chinese version can be used for the diagnosis of AD and VD,and the scale can help differentiate AD and VD.