Efeitos da massagem do tecido conjuntivo e cinesioterapia no tratamento da dismenorréia primária / Effects of massage of the connective tissue and kinesiotherapy

A dismenorréia primária caracteriza-se por dor pélvica que acompanha a menstruação sem comprometimentos patológicos. Como a dismenorréia primária possui índices elevados entre as mulheres, causando desconfortos e afetando a qualidade de vida, buscou-seanalisar os efeitos da massoterapia e da cinesioterapia sobre a sintomatologiadolorosa da dismenorréia primária, estabelecendo um estudo comparativo entre os dois recursos. Trata-se de uma pesquisa quali-quantitativa caracterizando-se como um estudo experimental. Participaram da pesquisa 11 mulheres com idade entre 19 e 24 anos,sendo que um grupo, com 5 participantes, recebeu a massagem do tecido conjuntivo e o outro grupo, com 6 participantes, realizou um programa de exercícios terapêuticos, ambos uma vez na semana. Operíodo da pesquisa compreendeu os meses de agosto a outubro de 2008 totalizando 8 encontros. Os dois grupos obtiveram resultados satisfatórios com relação à diminuição dos desconfortos apresentados durante o período menstrual, entretanto o grupo que recebeu sessões de massoterapia foi o que obteve melhor resultado.

Th e primary dysmenorrhea is characterized by pain in the lowerabdomen occurring just before or during menstruation period without pathological problems. Since the primary dysmenorrheashows up in high levels in women, causing discomfort and aff ectingquality of life, we aimed to analyze the eff ects of massage therapyand kinesiotherapy on painful symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea, establishing a comparative study of these two resources. This is a qualitative and quantitative research characterized as an experimental study. Eleven women 19 to 24 years old participated of this study. One group, with 5 participants, received massage in their connective tissues and the other group, with 6 participants, performed physicaltherapy exercises, both programs once a week. The research wascarried out from 2008 August to October, totalizing 8 meetings. Both groups had satisfactory results concerning the reduction of discomforts that occur during menstruation period. However, thegroup that received massage therapy sessions obtained better results.

Voice and vocal self-assessment after thyroidectomy.

BACKGROUND: Voice alterations after thyroidectomy can be found even with preserved function of laryngeal nerves. The purpose of this study was to evaluate voice before and after thyroid surgery and the role of orotracheal intubation on voice changes. METHODS: We conducted a prospective nonrandomized study of patients who underwent thyroid surgery and compared the results with a control group of patients who underwent breast surgery. Subjects underwent a videolaryngoscopic exam, a subjective and an objective voice analysis and a Voice Handicap Index (VHI) questionnaire before and after surgery. RESULTS: A total of 100 patients who underwent thyroidectomy and 30 who underwent breast surgery were studied. Both groups were similar in demographic, clinical, and surgical variables. Postoperative videolaryngoscopy showed larynx alterations in 28% of the thyroidectomized patients, without significant alterations in the control group. There were subjective voice changes in 29.7% of the patients without vocal fold immobility after thyroid surgery and no statistically significant changes after breast surgery. Acoustic analysis showed significant increased values in the voice turbulence index (VTI) parameter in both groups, although higher in the thyroid one. In the VHI assessment, voice complaints were more frequently registered in the thyroid group rather than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Voice alterations are frequent after thyroidectomy even with preserved vocal fold mobility. Such alterations were more frequently detected in that group than in patients who underwent breast surgery. Orotracheal intubation is just one of the multiple factors involved.