Practicing Outside the Lines: Using Acupuncture in the Athletic Training Room and on the Field.

Acupuncture can be used to treat athletes in an outpatient clinic setting, athletic training room, or even on a football field sideline. This article details 3 scenarios, in 3 illustrative cases, in which acupuncture was used for sports medicine in more unconventional settings. The author describes each case and shares his observations about them. First, acupuncture was used on a high-school football field sideline to help alleviate acute calf cramping in a player. Second, acupuncture was used in a division 2 college athletic training room to treat a player with subacute thoracic pain that was not improving with the usual treatments provided by the athletic trainers. Third, acupuncture was used to treat hamstring strain and tightness in a professional National Football League player to enhance his performance. These situations demonstrate the versatility of acupuncture in the realm of sports medicine. Acupuncture is an added-value service for athletes, and acupuncture providers should not be afraid to promote it in this population that is always looking for a competitive advantage.

An audit of structure-based medical acupuncture by a single provider in patients with musculoskeletal pain using PROMIS scores as the outcome.

BACKGROUND: To assess whether structure-based medical acupuncture (SMA) can improve Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) scores in patients presenting with musculoskeletal pain. METHODS: An audit was conducted of all patients presenting with musculoskeletal pain treated by a single provider with SMA in 2017. Inclusion criteria included a pre-treatment and at least one post-treatment PROMIS score. Patient demographics and previous treatments tried were recorded. Documented events other than acupuncture that were thought to interfere with PROMIS scores were recorded, and no further scores were used after these events. A maximum of nine visits after the initial visit were used. The PROMIS domains assessed included anxiety, depression, pain interference and physical function. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients who had been treated with SMA met the inclusion criteria. Sixty-five of the patients (90%) had chronic pain. For their presenting complaint, 59 (82%) had previously sought treatment from another non-operative provider, 60 (83%) had tried physical therapy, and 20 (28%) had even had surgery. Despite this, SMA appeared to be able to significantly improve PROMIS anxiety at visits 1-3 and PROMIS depression at visit 3. After just one treatment, minimal clinically important differences (MCID) were reached in 32%-44% of patients for PROMIS anxiety, 17%-36% for PROMIS depression, 28%-29% for PROMIS physical function, and 21%-36% for PROMIS pain interference, based on low and high cut-offs of a range of quoted MCID values. CONCLUSION: In a difficult patient population with musculoskeletal pain, SMA is a technique that can likely be used to improve PROMIS anxiety and depression, although no firm conclusions can be drawn from this uncontrolled clinical audit. Of note, MCIDs were sometimes obtained even after just one treatment.

Acupuncture and Dry Needling for Sports Performance and Recovery.

ABSTRACT: Acupuncture and dry needling share many similarities in their proposed mechanisms of action and their sports medicine-related applications. Pain is the most common indication for these needling treatments, but there also are some limited studies on their use for ergogenic purposes. Needling can likely improve muscular strength and power, including increasing jump height, and it also can increase flexibility. In terms of sports recovery, acupuncture can not only be used for pain relief after injury, but also can help with routine recovery, such as in delayed onset muscle soreness. There are numerous case reports of acupuncture and dry needling being used to treat athletes for various diagnoses and conditions, however more high quality studies are needed in order to make more specific evidence-based recommendations. Given the high degree of safety and limited adverse events associated with needling treatments, it can likely be promoted in athletes.

Method Comparison for Detection and Measurement of Rotator Cuff Tears: Office-based Bedside Ultrasonography by a Single Physiatrist versus Imaging Center-based Ultrasonography by Two Expert Musculoskeletal Radiologists.

INTRODUCTION: There is increasing interest among physiatrists in using bedside ultrasonography to assess rotator cuff tears. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a method comparison between ultrasonography performed by a single physiatrist at bedside and two validated expert musculoskeletal radiologists at an imaging center. DESIGN: Prospective, blinded comparison study. SETTING: Academic outpatient clinic and imaging center. PATIENTS: Seventy-two unilateral shoulders were scanned. Inclusion criteria included pain or weakness with rotator cuff testing and compliance with repeat ultrasonography. INTERVENTIONS: Ultrasonography performed by the physiatrist was done at bedside during the patient's clinical visit, while the radiologists' scan was performed afterwards in an imaging center. The radiologists trained the physiatrist who was performing the scans. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was integrity of the rotator cuff (intact, partial tear, full tear). When a posterior cuff (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor) tear was detected, measurements of length, width, and distance from the biceps tendon were taken. RESULTS: With use of the radiologists' scan as a criterion standard, bedside ultrasonography performed by the physiatrist for detection of posterior cuff tears had a percent perfect agreement of 72.2% for categorization as no tear, partial tear, or full tear. When evaluating dichotomously for presence of a full tear, sensitivity was 82.1% and specificity was 93.9%. Seven (18%) full-thickness tears were missed, and all were essentially small (<15 mm). When physiatrist and radiologist measurements were compared, the mean ± standard deviation (SD) difference in length was 3.4 ± 4.7 mm, width was 2.7 ± 6.7 mm, and distance to the biceps tendon was -0.8 ± 7.5 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Office-based bedside ultrasonography is a reasonable modality to rule out medium/large full-thickness posterior cuff tears. However, physicians should be aware that a percentage of small full-thickness tears can be missed. Further imaging should be considered in suspected partial tears and full tears that may be appropriate for surgical repair.

Ultrasound Visualization of Radial Nerve Excursion During Acupuncture.

Objective: Nerves are likely to be contacted by needles somewhat regularly during acupuncture treatments. However, the effects of this are not well-known or described. The aim of this article is to describe the effects of acupuncture needling to the radial nerve in a single healthy subject. Materials and Methods: In this experiment, conducted at an academic medical center (Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO), ultrasound-guided acupuncture needling was performed to the radial nerve of one of the authors (C.-T.T.) in the upper arm at acupoint LI 13. The main outcome measures sought were ultrasonic visualization of the nerve during acupuncture needling and the sensations experienced during acupuncture needling of the nerve. Results: The radial nerve was seen to "roll" out of the way when it was needled. Two De Qi responses were elicited en route to the nerve, but, during nerve contact and penetration, minimal-to-no sensation was experienced. Conclusions: Healthy nerves can show side-to-side excursion when needled, and providers and patients cannot know reliably whether or not a nerve has been contacted or penetrated based on the sensations the patient experiences.

The efficacy of lumbar epidural steroid injections: transforaminal, interlaminar, and caudal approaches.

Conservative management of low back pain includes the use of lumbar epidural steroid injections, which have become increasingly more popular in the last 20 years. The body of literature regarding the efficacy of these injections is vast, conflicting, and difficult to summarize. This article reviews the updated evidence for efficacy and the indications for these injections.

Venous thromboembolic events in the rehabilitation setting.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a disease entity that encompasses both deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. During the past decade there have been significant advances in the understanding of prophylaxis and treatment of VTE. There is an extensive research base from which conclusions can be drawn, but the heterogeneity within the rehabilitation patient population makes the development of rigid VTE protocols challenging and overwhelming for the busy clinician. Given the prevalence of this condition and its associated morbidity and mortality, we review the evidence for the prevention, identification, and optimal treatment of VTE in the rehabilitation population. Our goal is to highlight studies that have the most clinical applicability for the care of VTE patients from a physiatrist's perspective. At times, information about acute care protocols is included in our discussion because these situations are encountered during the consultation process that identifies patients for rehabilitation needs.

Influence of needle type on the incidence of intravascular injection during transforaminal epidural injections: a comparison of short-bevel and long-bevel needles.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Vascular penetration and injection of corticosteroids into a vessel during lumbosacral transforaminal epidural injection is a suspected cause of myelopathy. Blunt needles have been suggested to avoid vascular penetration, but they are difficult to navigate. Another alternative to the standard long-bevel sharp needles is the short-bevel needles. Some have postulated that short-bevel needles are the best option for high-risk spine injections because they maintain navigation characteristics while potentially reducing the risk of complications. To date, no studies have been performed to either confirm or refute this. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference in the incidence of vascular penetration during lumbosacral transforaminal epidural injections between short-bevel and long-bevel needles. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: This is a prospective, observational, in vivo study. PATIENT SAMPLE: The sample comprises patients receiving lumbosacral transforaminal epidural injections at a university-based outpatient spine center. OUTCOME MEASURE: The outcome measure was the incidence of vascular contrast patterns observed under live fluoroscopy. METHODS: One interventional spine physician recorded contrast patterns observed during 158 fluoroscopically guided lumbosacral transforaminal epidural injections under live fluoroscopy using two different types of needle tips. RESULTS: Vascular injections were observed in 22 of the 158 injections, for an overall incidence of 13.9%. The incidence of vascular injections in the short-bevel group was 15.6% (10/64) and in the long-bevel group was 12.8% (12/94). This difference was not statistically significant (p=.6447). A secondary analysis was performed to determine if the needle gauge influenced the incidence of vascular injections, and again, there were no statistical differences in the overall rates of vascular injection. CONCLUSIONS: In comparison with long-bevel needles, short-bevel needles do not reduce the risk of inadvertent vascular injection in lumbosacral transforaminal epidural injections.

Incidence of simultaneous epidural and vascular injection during cervical transforaminal epidural injections.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, observational in vivo study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of simultaneous epidural and vascular contrast injection during cervical transforaminal epidural injections. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: In the lumbar spine, vascular contrast patterns are more than twice as likely to appear simultaneous to the anticipated epidural pattern, than they are to occur alone. This is important because practitioners are more likely to miss a vascular pattern when it appears simultaneous to the expected epidural flow. The incidence of intravascular penetration in cervical transforaminal epidural injections is known to exceed than that of lumbar injections, however, no study has determined the incidence of simultaneous epidural and vascular injection in the cervical spine. METHODS: Contrast patterns were observed with live fluoroscopy during 121 injections performed on 82 patients and categorized as one of the following: epidural only, vascular only, or simultaneous epidural and vascular. RESULTS: The incidence of simultaneous epidural and vascular injection during cervical transforaminal epidural injections was 18.9%. The incidence of vascular only injection was 13.9%, for a total vascular injection incidence of 32.8%. There was no correlation between the observed contrast pattern with patients' age, sex, side of injection, needle gauge, or diagnosis. There was a significant correlation between the level of injection and the risk of vascular injection. The higher the injection level, the higher the probability of a vascular injection. Fluoroscopy time was significantly increased when a vascular injection was identified. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous epidural and vascular injection accounts for over half of all vascular injections during cervical transforaminal epidural injections. With the risk of severe complications and high incidence of vascular injections in the cervical spine, live fluoroscopy is recommended during contrast injection with specific attention to simultaneous epidural and vascular flow.