Clinical neurology and neurosurgery
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Clin Neurol Neurosurg · Feb 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialBotulinum Toxin type A injections for patients with painful hallux valgus: a double-blind, randomized controlled study.
Hallux valgus (HV) related pain and disability remains a medical challenge to date. We have evaluated the therapeutic effect of intramuscular Botulinum Toxin type A (BTX-A) injection on painful HV in a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Sixteen patients having painful HV in at least one foot from the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at a medical center in northern Taiwan have participated. ⋯ Pain reduction induced by BTX-A injection lasted for at least 6 months while that induced by NS lasted for only 1 month. In addition, patients in the BTX-A group showed greater improvement in pain score (p<0.001), disability score (p<0.05), and HV angle (p<0.05) than patients in the NS group. The results reflected that HV-related muscle injection of BTX-A resulted in a marked reduction in pain for up to 6 months.
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Clin Neurol Neurosurg · Feb 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialIs rehabilitation intervention during hospitalization enough for functional improvements in patients undergoing lumbar decompression surgery? A prospective randomized controlled study.
Rehabilitation has been reported to improve pain and disability for patients after lumbar surgery. However, studies to investigate the rehabilitation intervention for lumbar decompression surgery during hospitalization are scarce. The aim of this study was to examine outcomes of perioperative rehabilitation intervention for patients who underwent lumbar decompression surgery (LDS). ⋯ The findings of this study indicate that the rehabilitation intervention during hospitalization improves pain intensity as well as disability and quality of life, yet has limited effects on the functional performance over time up to six months post-surgery in patients who received LDS. The study suggest that rehabilitation interventions during hospitalization must include regular support for patient adherence to the intervention program and focus on task-oriented programs for lower extremities such as closed-chain exercises in functional postures.