Ultrasonographic assessment of transverse abdominal muscle in healthy subjects and patients with chronic low back pain: a systematic review

Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Low back pain [LBP] is a common and complicated disorder which is influenced by a number of factors, among them is the lack of spinal stability provided by muscle contraction. One of the most important muscles which has a role in spinal stability is musculus transversus abdominis. A literature search for the period of 2000-11 was performed in PubMed, ProQuest, Science Direct, Thomson, EMBASE, OVID, CINAHL and MEDLINE databases using musculus Transversus Abdominis, ultrasonography, chronic nonspecific low back pain as keywords. Nineteen articles were selected according to the inclusion criteria of the study. Evidences demonstrated that thickness of transversus abdominis reduces in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain [LBP] and ultrasonography seemed to be a valid and highly reliable instrument for measuring thickness of transversus abdominis in patients with LBP and healthy subjects on different positions and states. Studies demonstrated that there are adequate evidences to confirm the merit of ultrasonography in the assessment of musculus transversus abdominis in patients with chronic LBP and healthy subjects

Injury epidemiology in Kermanshah: the National Trauma Project in Islamic Republic of Iran

In a cross-sectional study, all trauma patients hospitalized for 24 hours or more over a 4-month period in Taleghani hospital, the only referral teaching centre in Kermanshah city, were studied [n = 779]. Mean age was 34.7 [standard deviation 19.9] years. Male, unemployed and illiterate patients predominated. Road traffic accidents, falls and interpersonal violence were the most common mechanisms of injury. Among road traffic accident victims, pedestrians were the most vulnerable group. A total of 7.8% of patients died, mostly due to head injuries [78.7%]. Our findings also showed the importance of head trauma as the main anatomical site of injury

[Frequency of contact dermatitis in patients with chronic dermatitis referring to dermatology clinics in Kerman]

Allergic and irritant compounds are frequent in nature, and the environmental allergic factors which can induce or exacerbate eczema are different and often unknown in different areas. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of contact dermatitis in patients with chronic dermatitis referring to dermatology clinics in Kerman. In this descriptive study, standard patch test containing 24 allergens was done for 156 cases [56 males and 69 females] with confirmed chronic dermatitis who had been referred to Afzalipoor Hospital Dermatology Clinics. Evaluation of the results was done for every case 24, 48 and 72 hours after application of the patch test. In whole, 153 positive patch tests were seen in 66 [52.8%] cases of 125 patients who had been examined. The most common allergic agent was nickel sulfate detected in 20 [13.1%] patients [17 females and 3 males]. The hypersensitivity reaction to this agent was significantly more common in females than males [P<0.05]. Potassium dichromate with frequency of 11.1% [12 males and 5 females] was the second common allergic agent and males showed significantly more positive reaction to this agent than females [p<0.05]. There was no statistically significant difference according to the age and sex between groups with positive and negative patch test results [P>0.05]. As the causative agents of contact dermatitis are different in various areas, by doing patch test in each area the allergic agents can be detected for more appropriate preventive measures and treatment strategies. In this study, the first and second common allergens were respectively Nickel and Chrome compounds. Thiorum, Cobalt, benzocaine and theazolin compounds were in the third rank