Twelve-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of comprehensive physiotherapy following disc herniation operation.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term effects of postoperative comprehensive physiotherapy starting one week after lumbar disc surgery.

Design: Twelve-year follow-up of a three-armed, randomized, controlled, single-blinded clinical trial.

Setting: Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

The role of mild systemic heat and physical activity on endothelial function in patients with increased cardiovascular risk: results from a systematic review.

Background/aims: In various animal models the application of systemic heat and physical activity (PA) has induced an up-regulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. Several experts in the field suggest shear stress as the main mechanism. A review was performed to summarize the results from clinical studies investigating the effect of mild systemic heat (MSH) and PA on endothelium-dependent vasodilation (EDD) in persons at increased cardiovascular risk.

The future of physical & rehabilitation medicine as a medical specialty in the era of evidence-based medicine.

Ebenbichler G, Kerschan-Schindl K, Brockow T, Resch KL: The future of physical & rehabilitation medicine as a medical specialty in the era of evidence-based medicine.

A pragmatic randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of highly concentrated saline spa water baths followed by UVB compared to UVB only in moderate to severe psoriasis.

Background: There is a lack of sufficiently large randomized trials evaluating the effectiveness of saline spa balneophototherapy compared to ultraviolet B (UVB) only.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate whether highly concentrated saline spa water baths followed by UVB (HC-SSW-UVB) are superior to UVB only in moderate to severe psoriasis.

Methods: One hundred and sixty (160) adults with a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) of >10 from 4 German spa centers were randomly allocated to HC-SSW-UVB (local sodium chloride concentration between 25% and 27%) or UVB only 3 a week until remission (PASI < 5) or for a maximum of 6 weeks.

Bath PUVA and saltwater baths followed by UV-B phototherapy as treatments for psoriasis: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of psoralens dissolved in a warm-water bath followed by exposure to UV-A irradiation (bath PUVA) or saltwater phototherapy (SW UV-B) compared with tap-water phototherapy (TW UV-B) or UV-B irradiation alone in psoriasis.

Design: Multisite, prospective, randomized, controlled trial with 4 parallel groups.

Setting: Total of 102 dermatologic outpatient clinics.

A randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of mild water-filtered near infrared whole-body hyperthermia as an adjunct to a standard multimodal rehabilitation in the treatment of fibromyalgia.

Objectives: To evaluate whether mild water-filtered near infrared whole-body hyperthermia (NI-WBH) produces an additional benefit when applied as an adjunct to a standard multimodal rehabilitation (MR) compared with MR only in patients with fibromyalgia (FM).

Methods: One hundred thirty-nine patients of a German inpatient rehabilitation hospital meeting the ACR 1990 criteria for FM were randomly allocated to NI-WBH (heating-up to 38.1 degrees C body core temperature followed by a 15 min heat retention period) and MR or MR only, twice a week over 3 weeks.

Identifying the concepts contained in outcome measures of clinical trials on depressive disorders using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a reference.

Objectives: First, to systematically identify the concepts contained in outcome measures of trials on depressive disorders using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a reference. Secondly, to explore differences in the use of ICF categories across different intervention types. Thirdly, to examine which and how often health status measures have been applied in trials on depressive disorders.