Prevalence and Risk Factor of Neck Pain in Elderly Korean Community Residents

Neck pain is a common musculoskeletal condition, which causes substantial medical cost. In Korea, prevalence of neck pain in community based population, especially in elderly subjects, has scarcely been reported. We evaluated the prevalence, the severity and the risk factors of neck pain in elderly Korean community residents. Data for neck pain were collected for 1,655 subjects from a rural farming community. The point, 6-months and cumulative lifetime prevalence of neck pain was obtained in addition to the measurement of the severity of neck pain. The mean age of the study subjects was 61 yr and 57% were females. The lifetime prevalence of neck pain was 20.8% with women having a higher prevalence. The prevalence did not increase with age, and the majority of individuals had low-intensity/low-disability pain. Subjects with neck pain had a significantly worse SF-12 score in all domains except for mental health. The prevalence of neck pain was significantly associated with female gender, obesity and smoking. This is the first large-scale Korean study estimating the prevalence of neck pain in elderly population. Although the majority of individuals had low-intensity/low-disability pain, subjects with neck pain had a significantly worse SF-12 score indicating that neck pain has significant health impact.

Awareness among Indian dentist regarding the role of physical activity in prevention of work related musculoskeletal disorders.

Background: The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal complaints in dentists is high and the past two decades have witnessed a sharp rise in the incidence of various disorders. The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain ranges between 64% and 93%. The most effected regions have been back and neck. Various studies have been done to record stress levels and health-related behaviors of dentists in other countries but limited data is available among the Indian dentists. Materials and Methods: Therefore a questionnaire survey was carried out among 102 Indian dentists belonging to different fields having at least one musculoskeletal disorder in last 6 months. Results: The total sample consists of 80 males and 22 females. Out of the 102 over 97 of dentists had sought medical advice for these disorders during the previous 06 months and 74 of them also consulted the physiotherapist for exercises and ergonomic advice. The number of sessions taken for regular physical exercises was minimum 6 till 44 the most. The percentage of improvement in symptoms varied between 20% and 80%. Conclusions: A significant direct correlation between the number of sessions taken for physical activity and the self-perceived improvement in the symptoms was found using the Pearson correlation test. The work-related musculoskeletal disorders among dentists not only decrease their efficiency but also is a major concern among them. Self-awareness and benefits of regular exercise is the need of the hour.

Síndrome de eagle importancia para el odontológo: revisión de la literatura / Eagle Syndrome importance for practitioner: a literature review

El síndrome de Eagle es una entidad descrita por el Dr. Watt W. Eagle en 1937, en un estudio realizado en un grupo de pacientes cuyo síntoma principal manifestado era dolor cervicofaringeo. Dicha patología, también conocida con el nombre de síndrome de la arteria carótida, síndrome estiloide o síndrome del proceso estiloide alargado y osificado, se caracteriza por una malformación de la apófisis estiloide en donde se evidencia la elongación de dicha estructura o la calcificación de sus ligamentos, presentándose generalmente en personas de sexo femenino entre la tercera y sexta década de la vida. El método de diagnóstico más utilizado es la radiografía panorámica. De acuerdo a la sintomatología manifestada en el paciente, se orienta el tratamiento a seguir

The Eagle's syndrome, is an entity described for the first time by Dr. Watt W. Eagle in 1937, during a research that took place in a group of patients whose main symptom was cervical pain. This pathology, also known as carotid artery syndrome, styloid syndrome or elongated and ossified styloid process syndrome, is characterized by styloid apophysis malformation where elongation is evidenced. It's most likely to be found in females, among the 3rd and 6th decade of life. Diagnosis is carried out by Orthopantomography. An accurate treatment will be decided according to every patient in particular

Anterior retropharyngeal approach to the cervical spine.

The anterior retropharyngeal approach (ARPA) accesses anteriorly situated lesions from the clivus to C3, in patients with a short neck, Klippel Feil anomaly or those in whom the C2-3 and C3-4 disc spaces are situated higher in relation to the hyoid bone and the angle of mandible where it is difficult to approach this region using the conventional anterior approach, due to the superomedial obliquity of the trajectory. The ARPA avoids the potentially contaminated oropharyngeal cavity providing for a simultaneous arthrodesis and instrumentation during the primary surgical procedure. Experience of five patients with high cervical extradural compression, who underwent surgery using this approach between 1994 and 1999, is presented. The surgical procedures included excision of ossified posterior longitudinal ligament (n=2); excision of prolapsed disc and osteophytes (n=2); and excision of a vertebral body neoplasm (n=1). Following the procedure, vertebral arthrodesis was achieved using an iliac graft in all the patients. Only one patient with vertebral body neoplasm required an additional anterior cervical plating procedure for stabilisation the construct. The complications included transient respiratory insufficiency and neurological deterioration in two patients; and, pharyngeal fistula and donor site infection in one patient.