A randomized controlled study of the acute and chronic effects of cooling therapy for MS.

Background: Cooling demyelinated nerves can reduce conduction block, potentially improving symptoms of MS. The therapeutic effects of cooling in patients with MS have not been convincingly demonstrated because prior studies were limited by uncontrolled designs, unblinded evaluations, reliance on subjective outcome measures, and small sample sizes.

Objective: To determine the effects of a single acute dose of cooling therapy using objective measures of neurologic function in a controlled, double-blinded setting, and to determine whether effects are sustained during daily cooling garment use.

Continuous passive motion for osteoarthritis of the hip: a pilot study.

Objective: To evaluate whether extended use of continuous passive motion (CPM) may allay the pain of walking, diminish disease effect, and increase the usual walking speed in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip.

Methods: This pilot study comprised 21 patients with Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2-4 OA of the hip who used CPM for periods of 1.2 to 7.

Concentric versus combined concentric-eccentric isokinetic training programs: effect on peak torque of human quadriceps femoris muscle.

To determine the effects of isokinetic resistance training of the quadriceps, 25 male volunteers were randomly assigned to five training groups: Concentric Slow (CS), Concentric Fast (CF), Concentric-Eccentric Slow (MS), Concentric-Eccentric Fast (MF), and Control (C). In training, subjects performed 20 contractions of each quadriceps using either 60 degrees/sec or 180 degrees/sec, for both sides, five days per week for 12 weeks. Testing consisted of measurement of peak torque, at intervals of 60 degrees/sec across a spectrum of velocities ranging from plus to minus 240 degrees/sec, at 0, 4, 8, and 12 weeks.

Torque development in isokinetic training.

Twenty men were randomized into three groups that performed maximal isokinetic knee extensions five days a week for 12 weeks; a fourth group was a control group. The training protocol was different for the opposite lower extremity of each subject, such that subjects in group I trained at 36 degrees/sec with 20 or 60 repetitions, group II did 20 repetitions at 36 degrees/sec with one limb and 60 repetitions at 108 degrees/sec contralaterally, and group III trained at 108 degrees/sec with 20 or 60 repetitions. Group IV did no training.

Heterotopic ossification and peripheral nerve entrapment: early diagnosis and excision.

Heterotopic ossification can occur in neurologic disorders, burns, musculoskeletal trauma, and metabolic disorders. In addition to producing the complications of contracture, skin breakdown, and pain, it can cause peripheral nerve entrapment. Nerve entrapment due to heterotopic ossification may be misdiagnosed, and it is difficult to evaluate and treat without recurrence.