Publications by authors named "Christian Pitcher"
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the number of days following hamstring strain injury (HSI) taken to introduce high-intensity eccentric loading (HIEL) into rehabilitation based on exercise-specific progression criteria, and whether pain resolution during isometric knee flexion strength testing occurred before or after this milestone.
Design: Cohort study.
Methods: We included 42 men (mean ± sd; age = 26 ± 5 years; height = 181 ± 8 cm; mass = 86 ± 12 kg) with HSIs, who performed fully supervised rehabilitation twice per week until they met return to play clearance criteria.
Objective: The primary aim was to compare time from acute hamstring strain injury (HSI) to return-to-play (RTP) clearance following a standardized rehabilitation protocol performed within either pain-free or pain-threshold limits. Secondary aims were to compare isometric knee flexor strength, biceps femoris long head (BFLH) fascicle length, fear of movement, and reinjury occurrence at the 6-month follow-up between pain-free and pain-threshold groups.
Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Study Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Background: Conventional guidelines recommend hamstring strain injury (HSI) rehabilitation should only be performed and progressed in complete absence of pain, despite lack of comparison to alternative approaches.
Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to compare the number of days from acute HSI to return to play (RTP) clearance following a standardised rehabilitation protocol performed within either pain-free or pain-threshold limits.
Introduction: In this study we aimed to determine the lower limb morphological characteristics of skeletal muscle of ambulant children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) and typically developing (TD) children.
Methods: Seventeen children with spastic diplegic CP (10 boys and 7 girls, 5-12 years of age, Gross Motor Function Classification System [GMFCS] level I or II) and 19 TD children (8 boys and 11 girls, 5-11 years of age) underwent lower limb T1-weighted MRI. Morphological characteristics of the triceps surae, including muscle volume, anatomical cross-sectional area, muscle length, and subcutaneous adipose tissue, were digitally quantified, and the proportional distribution calculated.
Study Design Reliability and case-control injury study. Background Knee flexor strength is a key variable when dealing with hamstring strain injury (HSI), and methodologies of objective measurement of strength are often limited to single exercises. Objectives To establish test-retest reliability of a novel apparatus to measure knee flexor strength during various hamstring exercises, and to investigate whether the measure can detect between-leg differences in male participants with and without history of unilateral HSI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Botulinum toxin A (BoNTA) is routine treatment for hypertonicity in children with cerebral palsy (CP).
Methods: This single-blind, prospective, cross-sectional study of 10 participants (mean age 11 years 7 months) was done to determine the relationship between muscle histopathology and BoNTA in treated medial gastrocnemius muscle of children with CP. Open muscle biopsies were taken from medial gastrocnemius muscle and vastus lateralis (control) during orthopedic surgery.
Introduction: In this study we aimed to characterize muscle composition of the medial gastrocnemius in children with spastic cerebral palsy (SCP) using quantitative ultrasound.
Methods: Forty children with SCP, aged 4-14 years, participated in this study. Children were grouped according to the gross motor function classification system (GMFCS I-V) and compared with a cohort of age- and gender-matched, typically developing children (TD; n = 12).
Purpose: To investigate the muscle size-strength relationship of the knee flexors and extensors in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) in relation to typically developing children (TD).
Methods: Eighteen children with spastic Diplegia, Gross Motor Function Classification System I-III (mean 7 y 5 mo SD 1 y 7 mo) and 19 TD children (mean 7 y 6 mo SD 1 y 9 mo) participated. Muscle volume (MV) and anatomical cross-sectional area (aCSA) were assessed using MRI.
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to establish the nature and stability of the strength-size relationship for the knee flexors and extensors across a 6-month period of childhood growth.
Methods: Nineteen typically developing children aged 5-11 years underwent lower limb magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and dynamometry strength assessments on 2 occasions, 6 months apart. Muscle volume (MV) and maximum anatomical cross-sectional area (aCSA) for the knee flexors and extensors were determined using MRI analysis software.