Dry Needling for Spine Related Disorders: a Scoping Review

Introduction/Background: The depth and breadth of research on dry needling (DN) has not been evaluated specifically for symptomatic spine related disorders (SRD) from myofascial trigger points (TrP), disc, nerve and articular structures not due to serious pathologies. Current literature appears to support DN for treatment of TrP. Goals of this review include identifying research published on DN treatment for SRD, sites of treatment and outcomes studied. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following Levac et al.’s five part methodological framework to determine the current state of the literature regarding DN for patients with SRD. Results: Initial and secondary search strategies yielded 55 studies in the cervical (C) region (71.43%) and 22 in the thoracolumbar-pelvic (TLP) region (28.57%). Most were randomized controlled trials (60% in C, 45.45% in TLP) and clinical trials (18.18% in C, 22.78% in TLP). The most commonly treated condition was TrP for both the C and TLP regions. In the C region, DN was provided to 23 different muscles, with the trapezius as treatment site in 41.88% of studies. DN was applied to 31 different structures in the TLP region. In the C region, there was one treatment session in 23 studies (41.82%) and 2–6 treatments in 25 (45.45%%). For the TLP region, one DN treatment was provided in 8 of the 22 total studies (36.36%) and 2–6 in 9 (40.9%). The majority of experimental designs had DN as the sole intervention. For both C and TLP regions, visual analogue scale, pressure pain threshold and range of motion were the most common outcomes. Conclusion: For SRD, DN was primarily applied to myofascial structures for pain or TrP diagnoses. Many outcomes were improved regardless of diagnosis or treatment parameters. Most studies applied just one treatment which may not reflect common clinical practice. Further research is warranted to determine optimal treatment duration and frequency. Most studies looked at DN as the sole intervention. It is unclear whether DN alone or in addition to other treatment procedures would provide superior outcomes. Functional outcome tools best suited to tracking the outcomes of DN for SRD should be explored.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-020-00310-

Evaluation of Head Position Using Craniovertebral Angle in Two Sitting and Standing Positions in the Elderly

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Abnormal head posture can lead to pain, physical limitations, falls and fractures that have a negative impact on people's quality of life. Since head orientation in sagittal view varies according to different body postures, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of two standing and sitting postures on sagittal view. METHODS: This observational study was performed on 70 elderly people referred to Elderly Health Center of Babol University of Medical Sciences. In order to measure the craniovertebral angle to determine the direction of the head in the sagittal view, participants were photographed in both standing and sitting positions. After initial evaluation, participants were divided into two groups of head posture (forward head posture and normal head posture) based on craniovertebral angle, with an angle of less than 51° as abnormal head posture. FINDINGS: The mean age of the subjects was 67.9±3.8. The size of the craniovertebral angle in sitting position (52±8.3) was greater than in standing position (48.1±6.5) (P<0.0001). In addition, two subgroups of forward head posture and normal posture showed increased craniovertebral angle in sitting position (forward head posture: 48.3±7.2, normal: 59.6±4.6) comapred to standing position (forward head posture: 43.7±6.5, normal: 56.9±4.2) (P<0.003, P<0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSION: According to the results, the craniovertebral angle increases in sitting position compared to the standing position

Microstructured anodes by surface wrinkling for studies of direct electron transfer biofilms in microbial fuel cells

A method for producing hierarchical wrinkled gold surfaces is used to continuously change characteristic microstructure dimensions of a bioanode in a microbial fuel cell, while conserving the total electroactive surface area and material chemistry. Using this approach, the effect of anode topography on power outputs from direct electron transfer from Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms can be isolated and studied without the competing effects associated with additive manufacturing. Despite having the same electroactive surface area for all structured anodes, tall and well‐spaced features perform best. Anodes with the shortest, most closely packed structures, on the other hand, do not perform any better than planar surfaces with the same footprint and lower electroactive surface area. It is postulated that large interfold spacing provides better electrical contact between the biofilm and the electrode via improved bacterial packing density at the electrode surface. Rigorous attention to structural dimensions rather than total electroactive surface area is proposed as an important direction for future bioanode optimization in microbial fuel cells containing direct electron transfer electroactive biofilms