Assessment of postural stability in women with hip osteoarthritis: A case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assessment the impact of hip osteoarthritis on postural stability. METHODS: One hundred and twenty-five randomly selected women 20-85 years old (mean age of 49 ± 24.4 years) were assigned to three groups based on age, health status and activity level. Group 1 (cases) - elderly women with diagnosed hip osteoarthritis, group 2 (control) - women without hip osteoarthritis, and group 3 (control) - healthy young women. Assessment of postural stability were measured using a WIN-POD Pel 38 electronic podometer. Statistica 10 software was used to perform t-test resulting in significance level of p < 0.05. RESULTS: Significant differences in pedobarographic balance measurements were observed between the study groups with eyes opened or closed (deviation length eyes open: group 1-3 and 2-3 p < 0.0001; eyes closed group 1-2 p = 0.19; 1-3 and 2-3 p < 0.0001; deviation area eyes open: group 1-3 and 2-3 p < 0.0001; eyes closed group 1-3 and 2-3 p < 0.0001; deviation velocity eyes open: group1-3 and 2-3 p < 0.0001; eyes closed group 1-2 p < 0.010, 1-3 and 2-3 p < 0.0001). The poorest postural stability was observed in patients with hip osteoarthritis (deviation length eyes open vs eyes closed 180.8/201.7 p = 0.028, deviation area 128.7/145.7 p = 0.771, deviation velocity 5.1/6.1 p < 0.0001), and the best postural stability was observed in young women (deviation length 111.3/137.5 p < 0.0001, deviation area 57/76.9 p = 0.003, deviation velocity 3.4/4.2 p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: (1) Osteoarthritic degeneration of the hip joint results in a significant disturbance in proprioception. This finding was reflected by the inferior stability parameters collected from subjects with hip osteoarthritis when asked to stand with their eyes closed. These finding were not observed in the other groups. (2) The disorder of the body stability of people with osteoarthritis may be a relative indication for the implantation of hip arthroplasty.

Short-term effect of kinesiology taping on temperature distribution at the site of application.

The aim of the study was to assess skin temperature after short-term kinesiology tape application. Seventy-four healthy volunteers with no history of lower back pain participated in the study. Kinesiology tape was applied in the experimental group, and Matopat Classic adhesive tape was applied in the placebo group. Study participants wore the tape for four consecutive days and were then thermographically analyzed for changes in skin temperature. Examination of skin surface temperature distribution revealed a significantly lower temperature (mean decrease, 1.3°C P = .001 area1, 1.5°C P = .001 area2, 1.6 P = .008 area3) immediately after kinesiology tape the removal. One hour after removal of the tape, a statistically significant increase in temperature was observed over all three areas (mean increase, 0.9°C P = .025 area1, 1.0°C P = .0008 area2, 1.0 P = .011 area3). In group 2, there were no statistically significant temperature changes. Based on the findings, we determined that kinesiology taping may affect skin temperature at the site of application.

Impact of increased body mass index on outcomes of elective spinal surgery.

STUDY DESIGN: Observational retrospective cohort study of prospectively collected database. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether overweight body mass index (BMI) influences 30-day outcomes of elective spine surgery. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Obesity is prevalent in the United States, but its impact on the outcome of elective spine surgery remains controversial. METHODS: We used National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, a prospective clinical database with proven validity and reproducibility consisting of 256 perioperative standardized variables from surgical patients at nearly 400 academic and nonacademic hospitals nationwide. We identified 49,314 patients who underwent elective fusion, laminectomy or both between 2006 and 2012. We divided patients according to BMI (kg/m2) as normal (18.5-24.9), preobese (25.0-29.9), obese I (30.0-34.9), obese II (35.0-39.9), and obese III (≥40). Relationship between increased BMI and outcome of surgery measured as prolonged hospitalization, complications, return to the operating room, discharged with continued care requirement, readmission, and death was determined using logistic regression before and after propensity score matching. RESULTS: All overweight patients (BMI ≥25 kg/m2) showed increased odds of an adverse outcome compared with normal patients in unmatched analyses, with maximal effect seen in obese III group. In the propensity-matched sample, obese III patients continued to show increased odds for complications (odds ratio, 1.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-2.3), readmission (odds ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-4.9), and return to the operating room (odds ratio, 1.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-3.1). CONCLUSION: Impact of obesity on elective spine surgery outcome is mediated, at least in part, by comorbidities in patients with BMI between 25.0 and 39.9 kg/m2. However, BMI itself is an independent risk factor for adverse outcomes in morbidly obese patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.