Articles: back-pain.
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Evid Based Compl Alt · Jan 2013
Network analysis of acupuncture points used in the treatment of low back pain.
Background. The appropriate selection of acupoints is fundamental to obtain a therapeutic effect from clinical acupuncture. Objective. ⋯ Conclusion. Using the modified MI technique, we provide a systematic framework for the acupoint combination network, and reveal how the technique of acupoint combination is used in the treatment of LBP. Application of this knowledge in acupuncture research may help clarify the mechanisms underlying acupuncture treatment at the systems level, bridging the gap between traditional medicine and modern science.
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Few studies focus on how physicians evaluate pain in foreign-born patients with varying cultural backgrounds. This study aimed to compare pain ratings [visual analogue scale (VAS) 0-100] done by Swedish primary care physicians and their patients, and to analyse which factors predicted physicians' higher ratings of pain in patients aged 18-45 years with long-standing disabling back pain. ⋯ Physicians appear to overlook psychological and emotional aspects when rating the pain of patients from other cultural backgrounds. This finding highlights a potential problem in multicultural care settings.
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Solitary vertebral chordoma presents as an intra- and extraosseous tumour with typical bright signal on T2-weighted images and moderate inhomogeneous enhancement on T1 postcontrast images. The diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) characteristics of this histologically proven third lumbar vertebra chordoma are reported for the first time. The DWI hyperintensity with increased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values strongly supports the preoperative diagnosis of a vertebral chordoma, allows for careful preoperative planning of the surgical procedure, and helps to narrow the differential diagnosis.
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To determine whether a difference exists between patients' self-ratings of amount of change and their self-ratings of importance of change. ⋯ Assessing the amount of change is not the same as assessing the importance of change. When the goal is to estimate important change, the reference standard should direct patients to judge the importance of the change.