Effectiveness of translational manipulation under interscalene block for the treatment of adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder: A nonrandomized clinical trial.

: Nonrandomized controlled trial. : To determine whether translational manipulation under anesthesia/local block (TMUA) adds to the benefit of mobilization and range of motion exercise for improving pain and functional status among patients with adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder (AC). : TMUA has been shown to improve pain and dysfunction in patients with AC.

Implications of early and guideline adherent physical therapy for low back pain on utilization and costs.

Background: Initial management decisions following a new episode of low back pain (LBP) are thought to have profound implications for health care utilization and costs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of early and guideline adherent physical therapy for low back pain on utilization and costs within the Military Health System (MHS).

Methods: Patients presenting to a primary care setting with a new complaint of LBP from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009 were identified from the MHS Management Analysis and Reporting Tool.

The impact of physical therapy residency or fellowship education on clinical outcomes for patients with musculoskeletal conditions.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort design was conducted using data from an electronic survey and an existing commercial outcomes database.

Objective: To compare the clinical outcomes of patients with musculoskeletal conditions treated by physical therapists who had completed residency or fellowship programs versus those who had not.

Background: There is an increasing focus on specialization through postprofessional education in physical therapy residency and fellowship programs.

A regional interdependence model of musculoskeletal dysfunction: research, mechanisms, and clinical implications.

The term 'regional interdependence' or RI has recently been introduced into the vernacular of physical therapy and rehabilitation literature as a clinical model of musculoskeletal assessment and intervention. The underlying premise of this model is that seemingly unrelated impairments in remote anatomical regions of the body may contribute to and be associated with a patient's primary report of symptoms. The clinical implication of this premise is that interventions directed at one region of the body will often have effects at remote and seeming unrelated areas.

Psychometric properties of selected tests in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.

Background Context: The psychometric properties of many outcome tools commonly used with patients with lumbar spinal stenosis have yet to be examined.

Purpose: Examine the test-retest reliability, responsiveness, and minimum levels of detectable and clinically important differences for several outcome measures in a cohort of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.

Study Design/setting: Cohort secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis receiving outpatient physical therapy.

Primary care referral of patients with low back pain to physical therapy: impact on future health care utilization and costs.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort.

Objective: To describe physical therapy utilization following primary care consultation for low back pain (LBP) and evaluate associations between the timing and content of physical therapy and subsequent health care utilization and costs.

Summary Of Background Data: Primary care management of LBP is highly variable and the implications for subsequent costs are not well understood.

Comparison of short-term response to two spinal manipulation techniques for patients with low back pain in a military beneficiary population.

Objective: To determine whether military health care beneficiaries with low back pain (LBP) who are likely to respond successfully to spinal manipulation experience a difference in short-term clinical outcomes based on the manipulation technique that is used.

Methods: Sixty patients with LBP identified as likely responders to manipulation underwent a standardized clinical examination and were randomized to receive a lumbopelvic (LP) or lumbar neutral gap (NG) manipulation technique. Outcome measures were a numeric pain rating scale and the modified Oswestry Disability Questionnaire.

Neck pain: Clinical practice guidelines linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health from the Orthopedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association.

The Orthopaedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association presents this second set of clinical practice guidelines on neck pain, linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). The purpose of these practice guidelines is to describe evidence-based orthopaedic physical therapy clinical practice and provide recommendations for (1) examination and diagnostic classification based on body functions and body structures, activity limitations, and participation restrictions, (2) prognosis, (3) interventions provided by physical therapists, and (4) assessment of outcome for common musculoskeletal disorders.

The short-term effects of thoracic spine thrust manipulation on patients with shoulder impingement syndrome.

The study was an exploratory, one group pretest/post-test study, with the objective of investigating the short-term effects of thoracic spine thrust manipulations (TSTMs) on patients with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS). There is evidence that manual physical therapy that includes TSTM and non-thrust manipulation and exercise is effective for the treatment of patients with SIS. However, the relative contributions of specific manual therapy interventions are not known.

Lumbopelvic manipulation for the treatment of patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome: development of a clinical prediction rule.

Study Design: Prospective cohort/predictive validity study.

Objective: To determine the predictive validity of selected clinical exam items and to develop a clinical prediction rule (CPR) to determine which patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) have a positive immediate response to lumbopelvic manipulation.

Background: Quadriceps muscle function in patients with PFPS was recently shown to improve following treatment with lumbopelvic manipulation.

Development of a clinical prediction rule to identify patients with knee pain and clinical evidence of knee osteoarthritis who demonstrate a favorable short-term response to hip mobilization.

Background And Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to develop a clinical prediction rule (CPR) for identifying patients with knee pain and clinical evidence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) with favorable short-term response to hip mobilizations. The secondary purpose was to determine the predictive validity of individual clinical tests for identifying these same patients.

Subjects And Methods: Sixty subjects with knee OA, aged 51 to 79 years, completed self-report questionnaires, a clinical examination of the hip and knee, and functional tests and were treated with 4 hip mobilizations.

Development of a clinical prediction rule for classifying patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome who respond to patellar taping.

Study Design: Predictive validity/diagnostic test study.

Objective: To determine the predictive validity and interrater reliability of selected clinical exam items and to develop a clinical prediction rule (CPR) to determine which patients respond successfully to patellar taping.

Background: Patellar taping is often used to treat patients with PFPS.

A comparison between two physical therapy treatment programs for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis: a randomized clinical trial.

Study Design: Multicenter randomized, controlled trial.

Objective: To compare two physical therapy programs for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.

Summary Of Background Data: Scant evidence exists regarding effectiveness of nonsurgical management programs for lumbar spinal stenosis.

Spinal manipulation in physical therapist professional degree education: A model for teaching and integration into clinical practice.

Spinal manipulation for low back complaints is an intervention supported by randomized clinical trials and its use recommended by clinical practice guidelines. Physical therapists in this country and internationally have used thrust spinal manipulation at much lower-than-expected rates, despite evidence supporting its efficacy for the treatment of acute low back pain (LBP). The purpose of this clinical commentary is to describe a physical therapist professional degree curriculum in thrust spinal manipulation and outline a method of monitoring ongoing student performance during the clinical education experience.

Reliability of a measurement of neck flexor muscle endurance.

Background And Purpose: Neck flexor muscle endurance has been negatively correlated with cervical pain and dysfunction. The purposes of this study were to determine rater reliability in subjects both with and without neck pain and to determine whether there was a difference in neck flexor muscle endurance between the 2 groups.

Subjects: Forty-one subjects with and without neck pain were enrolled in this repeated-measures reliability study.

Screening for vertebrobasilar insufficiency in patients with neck pain: manual therapy decision-making in the presence of uncertainty.

Growing evidence supports the effectiveness of manual therapy interventions in patients with neck pain; however, considerable attention has also been afforded to the potential risks such as vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI). Despite the existence of guidelines advocating specific screening procedures, research does not support the ability to accurately identify patients at risk. The logical question becomes, "How does one proceed in the absence of certainty?" Given the lack of clear direction for decision making in the peer-reviewed literature, this commentary discusses the uncertainties that exist regarding the ability to identify patients at risk for VBI.

Development of a clinical prediction rule for the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Objectives: To develop a clinical prediction rule (CPR) and to assess the reliability and diagnostic accuracy of individual clinical examination items for the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

Design: Prospective diagnostic test study with blind comparison to a reference criterion of a compatible clinical presentation and abnormal electrophysiologic findings.

Setting: Multicenter medical center and community hospital with patient referrals from ambulatory primary care and specialty practice settings.

Clinical hip tests and a functional squat test in patients with knee osteoarthritis: reliability, prevalence of positive test findings, and short-term response to hip mobilization.

Study Design: One group pretest-posttest exploratory design.

Objectives: Primary purposes of this study were to examine the short-term effect of hip mobilizations on pain and range of motion (ROM) measurements in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and to determine the prevalence of painful hip and squat test findings in both patients with knee OA and asymptomatic subjects. The secondary purposes were to assess intrarater reliability and to determine whether fewer subjects experienced painful test findings following hip mobilization.