Preliminary Evaluation of an Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment to Prevent Motion Sickness.

INTRODUCTION: Motion sickness affecting military pilots and aircrew can impact flight safety and, if severe, can lead to disqualification from flight status. However, due to the common adverse effects of motion sickness pharmaceuticals (e.g., drowsiness), medication options are severely limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential utility of a nonpharmaceutical method for motion sickness prevention, specifically an osteopathic manipulative technique (OMT).METHODS:A novel OMT protocol for the reduction of motion sickness symptoms and severity was evaluated using a sham-controlled, counterbalanced, between-subjects study design. The independent variable was OMT treatment administered prior to the motion sickness-inducing procedure (rotating chair). The primary dependent measures were total and subscale scores from the Motion Sickness Assessment Questionnaire.RESULTS:The OMT treatment group experienced significantly fewer gastrointestinal (mean scores postprocedure, treatment M = 20.42, sham M = 41.67) and sopite-related (mean scores postprocedure, treatment M = 12.81, sham M = 20.68) symptoms than the sham group while controlling for motion sickness susceptibility. There were no differences between groups with respect to peripheral and central symptoms.DISCUSSION:The results suggest that the treatment may prevent gastrointestinal (nausea) and sopite-related symptoms (sleepiness). These preliminary findings support further exploration of OMT for the prevention of motion sickness. A more precise evaluation of the mechanism of action is needed. Additionally, the duration of the effects needs to be investigated to determine the usefulness of this technique in training and operational settings.Thomas VA, Kelley AM, Lee A, Fotopoulos T, Boggs J, Campbell J. Preliminary evaluation of an osteopathic manipulative treatment to prevent motion sickness. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2023; 94(12):934-938.

Digital Photograph Security: What Plastic Surgeons Need to Know.

BACKGROUND: Sharing and storing digital patient photographs occur daily in plastic surgery. Two major risks associated with the practice, data theft and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations, have been dramatically amplified by high-speed data connections and digital camera ubiquity. The authors review what plastic surgeons need to know to mitigate those risks and provide recommendations for implementing an ideal, HIPAA-compliant solution for plastic surgeons' digital photography needs: smartphones and cloud storage. METHODS: Through informal discussions with plastic surgeons, the authors identified the most common photograph sharing and storage methods. For each method, a literature search was performed to identify the risks of data theft and HIPAA violations. HIPAA violation risks were confirmed by the second author (P.B.R.), a compliance liaison and privacy officer. A comprehensive review of HIPAA-compliant cloud storage services was performed. When possible, informal interviews with cloud storage services representatives were conducted. RESULTS: The most common sharing and storage methods are not HIPAA compliant, and several are prone to data theft. The authors' review of cloud storage services identified six HIPAA-compliant vendors that have strong to excellent security protocols and policies. These options are reasonably priced. CONCLUSIONS: Digital photography and technological advances offer major benefits to plastic surgeons but are not without risks. A proper understanding of data security and HIPAA regulations needs to be applied to these technologies to safely capture their benefits. Cloud storage services offer efficient photograph sharing and storage with layers of security to ensure HIPAA compliance and mitigate data theft risk.