Advancement of physical process by mental activation: a prospective controlled study.

According to the literature, patients who are significantly impaired by physical mobility limitations can be rehabilitated if the patient's working memory is used to capacity. The conclusion that periodic mental activity improves physical rehabilitation should be evaluated. This is a prospective, controlled, and randomized open study of patients who underwent a total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Hedgehog signaling controls fibroblast activation and tissue fibrosis in systemic sclerosis.

Objective: Hedgehog signaling not only plays crucial roles during human development but also has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases in adults. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of the hedgehog pathway in fibroblast activation in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods: Activation of the hedgehog pathway was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Foot loading characteristics of different graduations of partial weight bearing.

Limited weight bearing of the lower extremity is a commonly applied procedure in orthopaedic rehabilitation after reconstructive forefoot surgery, trauma surgery and joint replacement. The most frequent limitations are given as percentage of body weight (BW) and represent 10 or 50% BW. The extent of foot loading under these graduations of partial weight bearing has not yet been described in detail.

Negative pressure wound therapy to prevent seromas and treat surgical incisions after total hip arthroplasty.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) to improve wound healing after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and its influence on the development of postoperative seromas in the wound area.

Materials: The study is a prospective randomised evaluation of NPWT in patients with large surgical wounds after THA, randomising patients to either a standard dressing (group A) or a NPWT (group B) over the wound area. The wound area was examined with ultrasound to measure the postoperative seromas in both groups on the fifth and tenth postoperative days.

Thrombospondin-1 prevents excessive ossification in cartilage repair tissue induced by osteogenic protein-1.

This study investigated the effect of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) on the formation of cartilage repair tissue in combination with stimulation by osteogenic protein-1 (OP-1). In miniature pigs, articular cartilage lesions in the femoral trochlea were treated by the microfracture technique and either received no further treatment (MFX), or were treated by additional application of recombinant osteogenic protein-1 (MFX+OP-1), recombinant TSP-1 (MFX+TSP-1), or a combination of both proteins (MFX+TSP-1+OP-1). Six and 26 weeks after surgery, the repair tissue and the degree of endochondral ossification were assessed by histochemical and immunohistochemical methods detecting collagen types I, II, X, TSP-1, and CD31.

Stop of loss of cognitive performance during rehabilitation after total hip arthroplasty-prospective controlled study.

Prolonged hospitalization is known to be associated with a loss of cognitive performance. Does playing video games (VGs) developed to improve cognitive properties delay this loss or even lead to an increase in cognitive performance? We performed a 10-day longitudinal study of patients who received total hip arthroplasty. We compared 16 patients (6 male) aged 66 ± 9 years (mean ± standard deviation) who played Dr.

Decreased lymphatic vessel counts in patients with systemic sclerosis: association with fingertip ulcers.

Objective: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease that is characterized by microvascular disease and tissue fibrosis. Progressive loss and irregular architecture of the small blood vessels are well characterized, but the potential involvement of the lymphatic vessel system has not been analyzed directly in SSc. This study was undertaken to assess whether the lymphatic vascular system is affected in SSc, and whether changes to the lymphatic vessels are associated with dystrophic changes and tissue damage in patients with SSc.

Bone penetration of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid evaluated by population pharmacokinetics and Monte Carlo simulation.

Amoxicillin (amoxicilline)-clavulanic acid has promising activity against pathogens that cause bone infections. We present the first evaluation of the bone penetration of a beta-lactam by population pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic profiling via Monte Carlo simulations. Twenty uninfected patients undergoing total hip replacement received a single intravenous infusion of 2,000 mg/200 mg amoxicillin-clavulanic acid before surgery.

[The vacuum-assisted closure (V.A.C.) and instillation dressing: limb salvage after 3 degrees open fracture with massive bone and soft tissue defect and superinfection].

We report the case of a 17-year-old boy who was hit by a high velocity train. The polytraumatized patient suffered a 3 degrees open femur defect fracture with a substantial loss of the lateral femoral muscles and significant disruption of the soft tissue of the lower leg. The enormous wound areas on the thigh and the lower leg were infected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

[The biofeedback sole tested is a suitable device for avoiding overload under partial load].

During healing of fractures and after implantation of artificial joints mobilization with partial load is a widespread and well-accepted therapeutic principle. Translating our recommendations into action, however, overtaxes many of the patients. The use of the biofeedback sole tested should guarantee avoiding overload under partial weight-bearing conditions.

[Intraabdominal abscesses. Intervention versus surgical treatment].

As the diagnosis of intraabdominal abscesses has been continuously facilitated by the use of ultrasound and CT-scan, interventional management by percutaneous drainage provides an excellent alternative treatment concept to conventional open surgery. With the use of special flow-suction-catheters which are placed into the abdomen under sonographic or computertomographic guidance, the success rates in the literature are ranging between 33% and 100%, depending on the initial situation, etiology and morphology of the findings. Studies performed with comparable patient collectives showed that interventional treatment methods had equal results to conventional surgery.

Culture of human peritoneum--a new method to measure the local cytokine response and the effect of immunomodulators.

The production of cytokines and chemokines, which are involved in cell activation and cell migration in native pieces of peritoneum, was measured to investigate immune regulatory reactions in the human peritoneum. The samples were obtained during abdominal surgery and cultured immediately afterwards. In order to test therapeutic options in vitro, the effect of IL-10 and IFN-gamma on the cytokine and chemokine production was also studied.