Comparison of high-intensity laser therapy and combination of ultrasound treatment and transcutaneous nerve stimulation on cervical pain associated with cervical disc herniation: A randomized trial

The aim of the study was to compare the effect of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) and a combination of transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS) and ultrasound (US) treatment on pain, range of motion (ROM) and functional activity on cervical pain associated with cervical disc herniation (CDH).A total of 40 patients (22 women and 18 men) affected by CDH were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. In group 1 (20 subjects), patients received 20 sessions of HILT plus exercise, while in group 2 (20 subjects), a combination of US, TENS and exercise were applied.The outcomes were cervical segment ROM, pain level measured by visual analogue scale (VAS), and functional activity measured by neck pain and disability scale (NPADS) before and after the therapy. The level of statistical significance was set as p 0.05). After the treatment, cervical ROM, VAS and NPADS values were significantly improved in both groups (p 0.05).Both of therapeutic modalities demonstrated analgesic efficacy and improved the function in patients affected by CDH after 4 weeks of therapy (total 20 treatment sessions in 5 days a week).Both the HILT plus exercise program and the TENS / US plus exercise program were found to be effective in improving cervical range of motion and quality of life by reducing pain. These two treatment programs have similar effects in the treatment of cervical pain associated with CDH and can be used as an alternative to each other in clinical applications. However; It is clear that futher studies are needed to investigate the principles of application of HILT to painful areas or tissues (amount of area applied, dose applied, energy delivered, number of pulses, duration of session, frequency of sessions) and to exclude the effects of exercise treatment on the results of both treatment groups

Stroke research productivity between the years of 2009 and 2013: Perspective of Turkey

WOS: 000345767700632

Investigation on the efficiency of the closed kinetic chain and video-based game exercise programs in the rotator cuff rupture: A randomized trial

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of video-based game exercises and structured closed kinetic chain exercises in individuals with rotator cuff rupture. Materials and Methods: Forty-five individuals with rotator cuff rupture were included in this study. Individuals were randomly divided into three groups: a conventional exercise group (CEG), a structured closed kinetic chain exercise group (CKCEG), and a video-based game exercise group (VGEG). Interventions were performed twice a week for 6 weeks. Pain severity; pain threshold; disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand questionnaire (DASH); rotator cuff quality of life index (RCQOL); range of motion (ROM); and joint position sense and approximation force of all individuals were evaluated pre- and post-treatment. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in all values of the pre- and post-treatment of the groups (P < 0.05). When the differences between the groups were compared, CKCEG and VGEG values were more significant than CEG in all parameters (P < 0.017). Improvements in pain threshold, ROM in shoulder flexion and abduction, DASH score, and all parameters of the RCQOL questionnaire in VGEG were statistically more significant than CKCEG (P < 0.017). Conclusion: Individuals with rotator cuff rupture obtained more improvements in primary and secondary outcomes after closed kinetic chain exercise and video-based game exercise, rather than conventional methods. It was considered that video-based game exercise programs would be used in rotator cuff problems.Istanbul Medipol University Individual Research Projec

Evaluation of balance after surgery for cerebellopontine angle tumor

WOS: 000460934600013PubMed ID: 30248037BACKGROUND: The origin of about 10% of tumors located in the intracranial region is the cerebellopontine angle. Therefore Cerebellopontine Angle (CPA) tumors affect patients' balance. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the balance in individuals who underwent surgery for CPA tumors with healthy individuals. METHODS: Thirty patients who were being followed-up by the Department of Neurosurgery and had been operated on CPA tumor and 31 healthy individuals were included in the study as group 1 and group 2, respectively. The participants were evaluated using Romberg Test, Sharpened Romberg Test, One-leg Stance (OLS), Tandem Walking, Walk Across, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and Short Form 36 (SF-36). RESULTS: In comparison of the groups, OLS tests (p <0.001), BBS (p <0.05) and DHI (p <0.05) were significantly different in favor of healthy group. SF-36 results revealed a significant difference between the groups, except for Bodily Pain and Vitality (p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrated a decrease in balance parameters and quality of life in individuals who underwent CPA tumor surgery in comparison to healthy individuals. Evaluation of balance in the preoperative and postoperative period should not be ignored in these patients and they are suggested to start rehabilitation in the early postoperative period

Middle East region: Turkey

This chapter will first present health statistics for Turkey and describe conventional rehabilitation therapies used to rehabilitate patients with stroke. Next, we will present existing neurorehabilitation robotic centers that treat patients in Turkey and provide information about the upper/lower-extremity robots used in these centers. We will discuss the advantages and shortcomings of these robots and technological advances in neurorehabilitation. Then, we will describe the prototype upper/lower-extremity robots that are not yet used in the clinic but are still being developed in the universities to treat patients in Turkey. Next, we will discuss barriers to effective rehabilitation robotics and give an overview of the policies and legal and ethical issues around rehabilitation robotics in Turkey. Lastly, we will evaluate how rehabilitation has changed or is still changing during the COVID-19 pandemic, whether the need for rehabilitation robots will increase, and our opinions about the future of neurorehabilitation and what can be done further to use rehabilitation robots