Physical therapy
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In this study, we investigated the applicability of thermography as a technique for evaluating the painful postcerebrovascular accident (CVA) shoulder in hemiplegic patients. A thermographic series was taken of the upper extremities and upper trunk of 27 female subjects. The four groups we evaluated were nonhemiplegic subjects (n = 9), post-CVA subjects with recovered function (n = 6), hemiplegic subjects with upper extremity motor impairment (n = 6), and hemiplegic subjects with both motor impairment and ipsilateral shoulder pain (n = 6). ⋯ The majority of the abnormal thermographic series of post-CVA subjects showed a 1 degree to 5 degree C coolness on the involved side. No consistent thermographic patterns emerged that could be related to the severity or location of pain. Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of thermography as a means of determining the relationship between ipsilateral post-CVA coolness and hemiplegic shoulder pain.
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Pulmonary compromise is a leading cause of morbidity in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Because these patients have such complex and massive needs, routine respiratory care is not always given the priority it deserves in a rehabilitation program. Our institution established a committee to formulate guidelines for the routine respiratory care of patients in our interdisciplinary Acute Spinal Cord Injury Program. ⋯ The purposes of the guidelines were to increase staff awareness of the need for routine, prophylactic respiratory care of patients with SCI; to be an effective teaching tool for staff, thus resulting in a reduction of respiratory complications; and also to be a teaching tool for patients and their families so that routine respiratory care could be continued in the home. After using the guidelines for over a year, we believe that the quality of the respiratory care we provide our patients with SCI has improved. The respiratory care is more comprehensive, consistent, and coordinated among disciplines.