Acute outcomes of acupuncture and dry needling over peripheral acute fatigue in untrained healthy volunteers: A randomized controlled clinical trial.

Peripheral acute fatigue (PAF) is defined as when the skeletal muscle is incapable of generating power. We aimed to investigate the acute effects of traditional Chinese acupuncture (TCA) and dry needling (DN) over PAF induced on the biceps brachii of untrained healthy volunteers. We conducted a randomized, single-blind controlled clinical trial. All volunteers (n = 45) underwent fatigue induction protocols repeated before and after treatment with TCA (TCA group; TCAg; n = 15), DN (DN group; DNg; n = 15), and rest (control group; Cg; n = 15). Assessments of PAF, skin temperature, and exercise time occur before and after each event: 1st fatigue induction (FI), treatment, and 2nd FI. We used repeated measures ANOVA adjusted with Bonferroni post hoc test to determine any change in tested variables (PAF-VAS, PAF-EMG, and skin temperature) at different time points compared to the baseline. Paired Samples t-test was used for the variable exercise times. All statistical tests considered' the significance level at p ≤ 0,05. There was no difference between groups in acute fatigue recovery (p = 0.19). All intragroup analyses were significant (p ≤ 0.05) and all volunteers show a reduction in fatigue perception after treatment (p ≤ 0,05), however, exercise time did not ameliorate after TCA or DN (p > 0.77). A single session of TCA and, DN can equally reduce fatigue, temperature, and exercise time over PAF induced on biceps brachii of untrained healthy volunteers.

Acute Effect of a Half-Marathon over the Muscular Function and Electromyographic Activity of the Pelvic Floor in Female Runners with or without Urinary Incontinence: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: to verify the acute effect of running a half marathon on pelvic floor muscle (PFM) function and electromyographic (EMG) activity in female runners with and without urinary incontinence. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional pilot study. The sample was divided into two groups: runners with urinary incontinence (with UI) and runners without urinary incontinence (without UI). A semi-structured form and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-UI-SF) were used for data collection. The EMG and PFM function were evaluated using the PERFECT method before and immediately after running a half marathon. RESULTS: A total of 14 runners were included (8 with UI; 6 without UI). Runners with and without UI did not show significant differences for EMG and PERFECT. The acute effects of the half marathon on runners without UI were reduced PFM function in terms of strength (p = 0.00), reduced endurance (p = 0.02), and reduced repetition (p = 0.03), and an increase in EMG measured by the median frequency (p = 0.02). Runners with UI showed reduced PFM function in terms of strength (p = 0.05) and repetition (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: there was no difference in the acute effects of the half marathon on PFM function and EMG in women with and without UI.

Associação entre força muscular e sensibilidade plantar em pacientes diabéticos: um estudo transversal / Association bet ween muscle force and foot sensitiveness in patients with diabetes: a transversal study

Diabetes Mellitus, distúrbio metabólico crônico dos carboidratos com elevadas taxas de morbi-mortalidade, tem a neuropatia diabética periférica (alterações sensitivas, motoras e autonômicas) como complicação mais prevalente. Em estudo transversal, 18 pacientes, verificou-se se há associação entre sensibilidade plantar e força muscular do tornozelo em pacientes diabéticos, avaliados quanto à sensibilidade tátil com monofilamentos (Semmes-Weisntein) em três pontos da região plantar nos dois pés, e força muscular de tornozelo, com teste de força manual, graduada de 0 a 5. Análise realizada no SPSS 20.0, testes qui quadrado e exato de Fisher, e p<0,05. Observou-se que 44,5% dos pacientes tinham perda da sensibilidade tátil e 38,8% da sensibilidade dolorosa; 38,8% e 33,3% tiveram diminuição da força de dorso-flexão direita e esquerda respectivamente, no entanto a correlação dessas variáveis, não foi estatisticamente significante. Diante dos resultados, não foi possível correlacionar a perda de sensibilidade plantar com a diminuição da força muscular nesse grupo de pacientes diabéticos.

Diabetes mellitus, a chronic carbohydrate metabolic disorder with high morbo-mortality rates, also includes peripheral diabetic neuropathy as a predominant complication. Current analysis verifies the association between foot sensitiveness and muscle force of the ankle in patients with diabetes. A transversal study involving 18 patients revealed that there is an association between foot sensitiveness and muscle force at the ankle in patients who were evaluated with regard to tactile sensitiveness with monofilaments (Semmes-Weistein) at three sites of the sole the foot and the muscular force of the ankle, with tests for hand strength, graduated from 0 to 5. Analysis SPSS 20.0, chi-square tests and Fisher´s exact test (p<0.05) were performed. Further, 44.5% of patients suffered loss of tactile sensitiveness; 38.8% had loss of pain sensitiveness; 38.8% and 33.3% had a decrease in the lateral dorsal-flexor force even though the co-relationship of variables was not statistically significant. Loss of sole sensitiveness could not be associated with decrease in muscle force in patients with diabetes.