Articles: function.
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This paper reports the first case of chronic exertional compartment syndrome in the arm treated surgically. The diagnosis was made in a patient who is under 30 years old, military, and very athletic, with recurrent exertional pain in the anterior compartment of the arms associated with rhabdomyolysis. The high-pressure measurements in the arms' anterior compartment after exertional exercise confirmed the diagnosis. Given the patient's functional demands, a surgical treatment of fasciotomy of the anterior compartment by miniapproach was performed and allowed the resolution of symptomatology with a return to sport at the same level after 3 months.
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Sleep disruption is pervasive in the military and is generally exacerbated during deployment, partially due to increases in operational tempo and exposure to stressors and/or trauma. In particular, sleep disruption is a commonly reported symptom following deployment-related traumatic brain injury (TBI), though less is known about the prevalence of sleep disturbance as a function of whether the TBI was induced by high-level blast (HLB) or direct impact to the head. TBI assessment, treatment, and prognosis are further complicated by comorbidity with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and alcohol misuse. Here, we examine whether concussion mechanism of injury is associated with differences in the prevalence of self-reported sleep disturbance following deployment in a large sample of U.S. Marines while accounting for probable PTSD, depression, and alcohol misuse. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the prevalence of concussion-related sleep complaints following deployment as a function of the mechanism of injury in individuals with and without probable PTSD and depression. Individuals with HLB-induced concussion were twice as likely to report sleep problems as those with an impact-induced concussion. Future work should examine these effects longitudinally with validated measures that assess greater precision of exposure and outcome assessment (e.g., blast intensity and type of sleep disturbance).
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Low back and lower extremity injuries are responsible for the highest percentage of musculoskeletal injuries in U.S. Army soldiers. Execution of common soldier tasks as well as army combat fitness test events such as the three-repetition maximum deadlift depends on healthy functioning trunk and lower extremity musculature to minimize the risk of injury. To assist with appropriate return to duty decisions following an injury, reliable and valid tests and measures must be applied by military health care providers. Myotonometry is a noninvasive method to assess muscle stiffness, which has demonstrated significant associations with physical performance and musculoskeletal injury. The aim of this study is to determine the test-retest reliability of myotonometry in lumbar spine and thigh musculature across postures (standing and squatting) that are relevant to common soldier tasks and the maximum deadlift. ⋯ Myotonometry can reliably acquire stiffness measures in trunk and lower extremity muscles of healthy individuals in standing and squatting postures. These results may expand the research and clinical applications of myotonometry to identify muscular deficits and track intervention effectiveness. Myotonometry should be used in future studies to investigate muscle stiffness in these body positions in populations with musculoskeletal injuries and in research investigating the performance and rehabilitative intervention effectiveness.
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Secular trend of increasing musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) across all branches of the U.S. Military is a critical limiting factor in the effective and efficient process of preparing military personnel for combat. The need to evaluate functional capacity beyond current physical fitness test (PFT) standards is the key in understanding an individual's risk of noncombat-related injury. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between Functional Movement ScreenTM (FMS) scores, incidence of musculoskeletal injuries, and standardized PFT scores among freshman Cadets during their first 10 weeks of enrollment at a senior military college. ⋯ No significant difference between FMS scores and injury and pain was found within both sex groups. Therefore, use of the composite FMS score as an indicator for risk of injury or to predetermine PFT performance is not recommended for this study's population. The rate of incidence of injury or pain in Cadets during a 10-week enrolment period is high. Females outperformed males in the FMS and PFT and reported higher rates of injury and pain. The utility of the FMS may be limited when substantially scaled for implementation across entire military populations. Future research should evaluate performance associations of the FMS with Army Combat Fitness Test components in a population of equally distributed sex and race.
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This was an in vivo animal study designed to investigate the interaction between dexamethasone (Dex) and microRNA-204 (miR-204) in a mouse alkali burn-induced corneal neovascularization (CNV) model. The function of miR-204 was then investigated in human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) in vitro. ⋯ The role of Dex in attenuating CNV may be partly attributed to miR-204. MiR-204 may be a potential therapeutic target in alkali burn-induced CNV.