Enoxaparin for VTE thromboprophylaxis during inpatient rehabilitation care: assessment of the standard fixed dosing regimen.

Background: We aimed to examine the efficiency of fixed daily dose enoxaparin (40 mg) thromboprophylaxis strategy for patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation.

Methods: This was an observational, prospective, cohort study that included 63 hospitalized patients undergoing rehabilitative treatment following sub-acute ischemic stroke (SAIS) or spinal cord injury (SCI), with an indication for thromboprophylaxis. Anti-Xa level measured three hours post-drug administration (following three consecutive days of enoxaparin treatment or more) was utilised to assess in vivo enoxaparin activity.

Consistency of inconsistency in long-COVID-19 pain symptoms persistency: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Individuals recovering from acute COVID-19 episodes may continue to suffer from various ongoing symptoms, collectively referred to as Long-COVID. Long-term pain symptoms are amongst the most common and clinically significant symptoms to be reported for this post-COVID-19 syndrome.

Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the proportions of persisting pain symptoms experienced by individuals past the acute phase of COVID-19 and to identify their associated functional consequences and inflammatory correlates.

The effects of TENS, interferential stimulation, and combined interferential stimulation and pulsed ultrasound on patients with disc herniation-induced radicular pain.

Background: Electrotherapy is part of a physician's toolbox for treating various musculoskeletal conditions, including radicular pain, but the preferred modality is yet unclear.

Objective: To compare the short-term efficacy of three electrotherapeutic modalities in relieving lumbar disc herniation (LDH)-induced radicular pain.

Methods: Fourteen patients with LDH-induced radicular pain attended a single session of electrotherapy, which included four 10-min consecutive treatments: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), interferential (IF) stimulation, a combined treatment with pulsed ultrasound and IF current (CTPI), and a sham control.

Cogstate Brief Battery: Cognition and the feigning of cognitive impairment in chronic pain.

Chronic pain (CP) is often associated with cognitive impairment. The Cogstate Brief Battery (CBB), a computerized assessment battery, has been studied in several neuropsychiatric disorders but not in CP. Since feigning of cognitive impairment is common in CP, the current study aimed to assess the CBB's utility in differentiating CP patients ( = 64) from healthy participants ( = 33), as well as to assess the effect of simulating cognitive impairment by CP patients on performance in the battery.

Additive Analgesic Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Together with Mirror Therapy for the Treatment of Phantom Pain.

Objective: Current analgesic treatments for phantom pain are not optimal. One well-accepted yet limited nonpharmacological option is mirror therapy, which is thought to counterbalance abnormal plasticity. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging approach believed to affect the membrane potential and activity threshold of cortical neurons.

A Preliminary Study of Dual-Task Training Using Virtual Reality: Influence on Walking and Balance in Chronic Poststroke Survivors.

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the Western world, and leads to impaired balance and mobility.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of using a Virtual Reality-based dual task of an upper extremity while treadmill walking, to improve gait and functional balance performance of chronic poststroke survivors.

Methods: Twenty-two individuals chronic poststroke participated in the study, and were divided into 2 groups (each group performing an 8-session exercise program): 11 participated in dual-task walking (DTW), and the other 11 participated in single-task treadmill walking (TMW).

Efficiency of Tissue Penetration by Currents Induced by 3 Electrotherapeutic Techniques: A Comparative Study Using a Novel Deep-Tissue Measuring Technique.

Background: Electrotherapy provides a wide range of treatment alternatives for musculoskeletal pathologies. However, for the electrical stimulation to exert a significant therapeutic effect, the induced current must often penetrate deep inside the target tissue.

Objective: The objective was to systematically compare the penetration efficiency of 3 electrotherapeutic stimulation modalities: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), interferential (IF) stimulation, and combined therapy with pulsed ultrasound and IF current (CTPI).

Deficient Pain Modulation in Patients with Chronic Hemiplegic Shoulder Pain.

Background: Hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) following stroke significantly affects the individual's function and quality of life. The mechanism of HSP is not clearly understood; hence, it is unclear why HSP resolves spontaneously or following routine care in some patients, while in others it becomes persistent. The aim was therefore to study whether HSP is associated with deficient pain modulation.

The local and referred pain patterns of the longus colli muscle.

The longus colli muscle is a neck flexor believed to play an important role in pain originating in the neck region, including pain resulting from whiplash injuries. Despite the clinical importance attributed to it, the pain referral pattern of the longus colli has previously been described only in a small cohort of subjects. Here, we aim to delineate the pain referral pattern of the longus colli muscle.

Does pain take holidays? Non-attendance rates at a hospital-based pain clinic are elevated during the Jewish high-holidays.

Background: Patient non-attendance is an expensive and persistent problem worldwide with rates between 5-39% reported in the literature. The objective of the study was to assess whether there is a higher incidence of non-attendance in a hospital-based pain clinic during the period of the Jewish High Holidays (Rosh-Hashanah to Sukkot) and whether this is further compounded by other factors, such as demographic characteristics and previous visits to the clinic.

Methods: Records were taken from the Lowenstein Rehabilitation Hospital appointment scheduling system.

Position Statement of the Israeli Society for Musculoskeletal Medicine on Intramuscular Stimulation for Myofascial Pain Syndrome-A Delphi Process.

Objective: To develop consensus on a position paper on the use of intramuscular stimulation (IMS) for the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) by physicians in Israel.

Methods: The Israeli Society of Musculoskeletal Medicine ran a modified Delphi process to gather opinions from a multidisciplinary expert panel. Eight experts in the treatment of MPS were chosen and asked to participate, and six participated.

Effect of kinesio tape application on hemiplegic shoulder pain and motor ability: a pilot study.

The aim of our single-group pre-post design pilot study was to evaluate the short-term effect of kinesio taping (KT) application on pain and motor ability of hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) patients. Eleven poststroke patients with HSP hospitalized in the Department of Neurology C, Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital, Raanana, Israel, received a KT application in addition to their usual rehabilitation protocol. KT, consisting of one to three strips according to a predefined algorithm, was applied to the painful shoulder region.

Trends in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Publications Over the Past 16 Years.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that the number of publications in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) has increased over the last 16 years in a linear fashion, and to compare the trends in publication between the pediatric and adult literature.

Design: We evaluated all MEDLINE articles from January 1, 1998, to December 31, 2013, using Medical Subject Headings categories of rehabilitation. An age filter separated adult and pediatric articles.

The Effects of Acupuncture on Cerebral Blood Flow in Post-Stroke Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background/objective: Stroke is a major cause of disability and death in the Western world. Studies have shown a direct relationship between specific mental and motor activity and changes in cerebral blood flow. Acupuncture is often used in post-stroke patients, but there is a lack of sham-controlled studies evaluating the effects of acupuncture on cerebral blood flow following a stroke.

A randomized controlled study of segmental neuromyotherapy for post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of segmental neuromyotherapy combined with standard hospital therapy relative to standard therapy alone in patients with hemiplegic shoulder pain.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Patients: A total of 24 patients with positive Neer's and hand-behind-neck tests received standard therapy for shoulder pain.

Trigger point needling: techniques and outcome.

In this review we provide the updates on last years' advancements in basic science, imaging methods, efficacy, and safety of dry needling of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). The latest studies confirmed that dry needling is an effective and safe method for the treatment of MTrPs when provided by adequately trained physicians or physical therapists. Recent basic studies have confirmed that at the site of an active MTrP there are elevated levels of inflammatory mediators, known to be associated with persistent pain states and myofascial tenderness and that this local milieu changes with the occurrence of local twitch response.

Underlying pathology and associated factors of hemiplegic shoulder pain.

The prevalence of hemiplegic shoulder pain is approximately 22%-23% in the general population of stroke survivors and approximately 54%-55% among stroke patients in rehabilitation settings. Hemiplegic shoulder pain causes a reduced quality-of-life, poor functional recovery, depression, disturbed sleep, and prolonged hospitalization. Herein, we attempted to understand, based on a literature review and experts' opinion, the pathologic processes underlying hemiplegic shoulder pain and the major associated factors contributing to its development.