Use of Shear Wave Elastography in Pediatric Musculoskeletal Disorders

Muscle shear-wave elastography (SWE) is an exciting and rapidly evolving ultrasound technique that allows quantification of muscle stiffness with a non-invasive, non-painful and non-irradiating examination. It has the potential of wider clinical use due to relatively low-cost, providing real-time measurement and, especially for the pediatric population, taking less time and sedation/anesthesia-free. Research indicate that muscle SWE shows promise as an adjunct clinical tool for differentiating between a normal and an abnormal muscle, monitoring the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, altering the therapeutic intervention, or deciding treatment duration. This chapter will aim to provide an overview of the knowledge about the using of muscle SWE in common pediatric musculoskeletal disorders such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Cerebral Palsy, Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, and Congenital Muscular Torticollis in the light of current evidence

Short foot exercises have additional effects on knee pain, foot biomechanics, and lower extremity muscle strength in patients with patellofemoral pain.

BACKGROUND: Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is a common knee problem. The foot posture in a relaxed stance is reported as a distal factor of PFP. However, the effects of short foot exercise (SFE) on the knee and functional factors have not yet been investigated in patients with PFP. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the additional effects of SFE on knee pain, foot biomechanics, and lower extremity muscle strength in patients with PFP following a standard exercise program. METHODS: Thirty patients with a ‘weak and pronated’ foot subgroup of PFP were randomized into a control group (ConG, n= 15) and a short foot exercise group (SFEG, n= 15) with concealed allocation and blinded to the group assignment. The program of ConG consisted of hip and knee strengthening and stretching exercises. SFEG program consisted of additional SFE. Both groups performed the supervised training protocol two times per week for 6 weeks. Assessment measures were pain visual analog scale (pVAS), Kujala Patellofemoral Score (KPS), navicular drop test (NDT), rearfoot angle (RA), foot posture index (FPI), and strength tests of the lower extremity muscles. RESULTS: Both groups displayed decreases in pVAS scores, but it was only significant in favor of SFEG. NDT, RA, and FPI scores decreased in SFEG whereas they increased in ConG. There was a significant group-by-time interaction effect in hip extensor strength and between-group difference was found to be significantly in favor of SFEG. CONCLUSIONS: An intervention program consisting of additional SFE had positive effects on knee pain, navicular position, and rearfoot posture. An increase in the strength of the hip extensors may also be associated with improved stabilization by SFE

JUST-CRS master programme: an interdisciplinary curriculum for occupation and physical therapy

JUST-CRS is a capacity building Project in higher education funded by the EU Erasmus+ aims to establish an interdisciplinary master program in rehabilitation sciences at JUST for both occupational and physical therapy. Consortium partners, led by the grant holder (JUST) and universities from Portugal, England, Turkey and Jordan have worked collaboratively to build an international curriculum with structure that provides innovative solutions to Jordanian rehabilitation gaps and ts Jordanian Higher Education standards and the European standards set in the European Qualification Framework. This presentation intends to shed light on the process, steps, outcomes and insights of developing this master’s degree program in rehabilitation sciences. The process highlights the steps starting from needs assessment, setting up program graduate competencies, setting up core and elective courses’ skeletal structure and descriptions, establishing courses learning outcomes, courses’ contents and topics as well as establishing the courses’ evaluation methods. Each step was collaboratively crafted to t multiple international culturally-different partners, multi-disciplines, multiple views and perspective of educational and professional systems. Ultimately, the program has been a success. The recipe for this success as well as better suggestions for future international collaborations in the eld of higher education for rehabilitation sciences will be disseminated.N/