Relationships between mediolateral step modulation and clinical balance measures in people with chronic stroke.

Background: Many people with chronic stroke (PwCS) exhibit walking balance deficits linked to increased fall risk and decreased balance confidence. One potential contributor to these balance deficits is a decreased ability to modulate mediolateral stepping behavior based on pelvis motion. This behavior, hereby termed mediolateral step modulation, is thought to be an important balance strategy but can be disrupted in PwCS.

Augmented Hip Proprioception Influences Mediolateral Foot Placement During Walking.

Hip abductor proprioception contributes to the control of mediolateral foot placement, which varies with step-by-step fluctuations in pelvis dynamics. Prior work has used hip abductor vibration as a sensory probe to investigate the link between vibration within a single step and subsequent foot placement. Here, we extended prior findings by applying time and location varying vibration in every step, seeking to predictably manipulate the continuous, step-by-step relationship between pelvis dynamics and foot placement.

Music to reduce stress in hospitalized patients.

Purpose: To determine the impact of music on the physiologic and psychological stress experienced by hospital inpatients.

Methods: This pilot study monitored vital signs; utilized pain, anxiety, and agitation rating scales; and gathered verbal feedback from 50 participating inpatients at the authors' healthcare facility as they listened to music via an audiovisual interactive patient engagement technology system.

Results: After listening to music for 30 minutes, patients reported significantly lower pain and anxiety.

Identifying Predictors of Airway Complications During Conscious Sedation Procedures.

Conscious sedation procedures are complicated by unanticipated airway compromise and obstruction. The STOP-Bang questionnaire (University of Toronto, 2012) is a validated obstructive sleep apnea screening questionnaire used as a preprocedure evaluation tool to assess a patient's risk for obstructive sleep apnea. The purpose of this study was to determine whether risk factors for obstructive sleep apnea, using the STOP-Bang questionnaire, could predict procedural airway complications in 152 endoscopy patients following conscious sedation.

Continuous quadratus lumborum block as post-operative strategy for pain control in spinal fusion surgery.

Background And Aims: Lumbar spinal fusions have post-operative pain levels that can be difficult to treat. The objective of this study was to determine if using bilateral quadratus lumborum (QL) nerve block catheters for lumbar fusions changes the patient's post-operative recovery experience by reducing opioid consumption, thereby limiting potential risks and side effects and reducing recovery time.

Methods: There were a total of 52 surgical lumbar fusion patients in this single-center, retrospective cohort review.