High-Force Versus Low-Force Lumbar Traction in Acute Lumbar Sciatica Due to Disc Herniation: A Preliminary Randomized Trial.

Objective: This study compared the effects of high-force versus low-force lumbar traction in the treatment of acute lumbar sciatica secondary to disc herniation.

Methods: A randomized double blind trial was performed, and 17 subjects with acute lumbar sciatica secondary to disc herniation were assigned to high-force traction at 50% body weight (BW; LT50, n = 8) or low force traction at 10% BW (LT10, n = 9) for 10 sessions in 2 weeks. Radicular pain (visual analogue scale [VAS]), lumbo-pelvic-hip complex motion (finger-to-toe test), lumbar-spine mobility (Schöber-Macrae test), nerve root compression (straight-leg-raising test), disability (EIFEL score), drug consumption, and overall evaluation of each patient were measured at days 0, 7, 1, 4, and 28.

The value of nerve blocks in the diagnoses and treatment of complex regional pain syndrome type 1: a series of 14 cases.

Objectives: Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1) can progress to joint stiffness, which may be related to pain and/or capsule-ligament contracture. In this context, it is difficult to distinguish the respective causative roles of pain and contractures. Nerve blocks (NBs) can be used to determine the aetiology of joint stiffness.

Eccentric exercise training: modalities, applications and perspectives.

Eccentric (ECC) exercise is classically used to improve muscle strength and power in healthy subjects and athletes. Due to its specific physiological and mechanical properties, there is an increasing interest in employing ECC muscle work for rehabilitation and clinical purposes. Nowadays, ECC muscle actions can be generated using various exercise modalities that target small or large muscle masses with minimal or no muscle damage or pain.

Use of Postural Reconstruction® physiotherapy to treat an adolescent with asymmetric bilateral genu varum and idiopathic scoliosis.

Objective: To document the effect of Postural Reconstruction® physiotherapy on two postural disorders commonly observed in adolescents: genu varum and idiopathic scoliosis.

Patient And Methods: A case report on a 16-year-old boy suffering from knee pain and presenting with bilateral genu varum and mild scoliosis. At the initial evaluation (T0), the intercondylar space was 7 cm and the Cobb angles for the right lumbar curve and left thoracic curve were 18° and 13°, respectively.

Manual medicine - osteopathy in France organization - education - fields of expertise.

Manual medicine-osteopathy (MMO) is of keen interest among young doctors, generalists and specialists alike. Through a discerning semiological approach, MMO allows non-pharmaceutical physical treatments to be proposed for many musculoskeletal pathologies. In March 2007, some manual therapies (e.

Muscle oxygenation and intramuscular pressure related to posture and load in back muscles.

Background Context: There is little information about the simultaneous changes of intramuscular pressure (IMP) and oxygen saturation (StO(2)) of the paraspinal muscle under various conditions of posture and load.

Purpose: To measure simultaneously and compare IMP and StO(2) across a range of static trunk postures commonly observed during normal work tasks.

Study Design: A prospective study using a repeated-measure design in clinical setting.

[Secondary screening for osteoporosis in patients admitted for hip fracture to a rehabilitation center. Results of a survey].

Goals: To determine prevalence, risk factors and treatment of osteoporosis in patients with hip fracture observed in a rehabilitation ward.

Background: Hip fractures are associated with up to 20% excess mortality in the first year after fracture and cause functional disability in most survivors. Despite available risk indices and physician information, osteoporosis is still underdiagnosed and undertreated.

[Spinal manipulations in sciatica].

Spinal manipulations have been shown to be efficient for common low back pain; they remain an option in the treatment of symptomatic lumbar disk herniation. From data in the literature, the author discusses the interest of spinal manipulations with a "thrust" at the level of disk herniation and concludes that this therapy, performed by an experienced physician and under conditions of strict application, could be an option in the treatment of subacute and chronique disc herniation.

[Spinal manipulation: survey of French medical physicians who graduated with the national diploma of osteopathy from Strasbourg University].

Introduction: The use of spinal manipulation (SM) is widespread, particularly in English-speaking countries, where many studies are published showing its popularity. However, no study exists of the demography and activity of the French medical profession. Our objective was to investigate the use of SM by French doctors in their daily practice.

Sciatica, disk herniation, and neuroborreliosis. A report of four cases.

We report four cases of sciatica in patients with same-level disk herniation confirmed by computed tomography and a final diagnosis of acute radiculitis caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, with a favorable response to ceftriaxone therapy. The neurological manifestations of Lyme disease are protean, and a potential contribution of concomitant disk disease to sciatica can lead to diagnostic wanderings. Disk lesions and infectious conditions that can cause sciatica are discussed.

[Exertional compartment syndrome].

Objectives: To review the literature on chronic exertional compartment syndrome.

Methods: We searched the Medline database with use of the keys words compartment syndrome, exertional, chronic, pressure, and fasciotomy.

Results: Exertional compartment syndrome is characterized by pain on exertion, which recedes at rest, and by excessive increase in compartment intramuscular pressure.

[Cervical spine manipulation: risks--benefit--assessment].

Cervical manipulation is a widely used method indicated in non-specific mechanical neck pain and cervicogenic headache. Cervical manipulation can cause severe neurologic complications which are both rare and generally unpredictable, which can be compared with the accidents occurring with other treatments (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs..

Mechanism of action of spinal manipulative therapy.

Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) acts on the various components of the vertebral motion segment. SMT distracts the facet joints, with faster separation when a cracking sound is heard. Intradiscal pressure may decrease briefly.

[An unusual complication of coronarography: neuralgia of the internal saphenous].

Many causes of saphenous nerve lesions at the knee or leg level have been reported. Proximal nerve lesions, especially after varicose vein stripping, are uncommon. We report a case of saphenous nerve lesion following catheterization of the femoral artery complicated with arterial spasm.

[Complications following vertebral manipulation-a survey of a French region physicians].

Introduction: Recent studies have emphasized the incidence and the general underestimation in literature of spinal manipulation (SM) linked accident. The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency and the incidence of strokes, myelopathies, radiculopathies or osteoarticular accidents in a major French area.

Material And Method: We made a survey among 240 neurologists, neurosurgeons, rhumatologists and physicians concerning the number of accidents observed during the preceding two years.

[A rare cause of constipation: neurinoma of the fourth lumbar nerve. Case report and review of the literature ].

Constipation is a symptom not to be neglected, especially if the complaint is recent. We report a case where this symptom was the only clinical manifestation of a voluminous retroperitoneal tumor. The tumor was found to be a neurilemmoma of the fourth right lumbar roots, confirmed at pathological examination.

[Spinal manipulation in the treatment of common low back pain].

Although the best designed studies have shown promising results, the efficacy of spinal manipulations has not as yet been proved. The mode of action may involve mechanical changes in the disk and facet joints, but neurological mechanisms probably play the key role. Complications of cervical spinal manipulations are rare.

Cervical spine manipulation and the precautionary principle.

Cervical manipulations can cause severe neurologic complications, which are both exceedingly rare and generally unpredictable. To meet the requirements of the principles of prevention and precaution, we believe the number of cervical manipulations should be reduced. To this end, we suggest that five recommendations developed by consensus be followed: unwanted effects, however minor, of previous manipulation should be looked for routinely and taken as absolute contraindications to further manipulation; a thorough physical examination, including a neurological evaluation, should be performed prior to manipulation; all known contraindications and indications should be followed; manipulation should be performed only by physicians experienced in this technique; and special caution should be exercised when performing first-line cervical manipulation.