Cervical motion after adding a posterior pad to the halo vest.

Investigators have shown that significant segmental motion occurs in patients immobilized in halo vests. One cadaver study showed that this is decreased with a posterior pad added to the construct. To improve nonoperative care of patients with cervical trauma, segmental cervical motion was evaluated in normal volunteers immobilized in a halo vest with and without a posterior pad.

Functional bracing for rupture of the Achilles tendon. Clinical results and analysis of ground-reaction forces and temporal data.

Fifteen patients who had sustained a rupture of the Achilles tendon were managed non-operatively with use of a functional bracing protocol, and clinical and functional performance measures were assessed after a mean duration of follow-up of thirty-one months (range, twenty-four to forty-five months). An age and gender-matched group of fifteen subjects was assessed to provide normative data for the comparison of side-to-side differences. Numerical scores were generated on the basis of subjective responses to a questionnaire, clinical measurements of the range of motion of the ankle and the circumference of the calf, and the results of the Thompson squeeze test and a single-limb heel-rise test.