PURPOSE To compare the short-term outcome in patients with or without a drain (short duration and low suction pressure) following total knee replacement (TKR). METHODS A consecutive series of 106 women and 48 men (mean age, 69 years) underwent unilateral TKR. The first 77 patients used a low suction pressure (200 mm Hg) drain following TKR for 24 hours, and the next 77 patients used no drain....

Background: Hypotension occurs commonly during caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia. As the onset may be rapid, it may fail to be detected by non-invasive blood pressure (BP) measurement in a timely fashion. Pulse oximeters can continuously and non-invasively measure tissue perfusion (perfusion index (PI)) and its variation with the respiratory cycle (pleth variability index (PVI)). As wi...

A 60-year-old man presented with a three week history of low back pain and right sciatica after lifting a heavy weight. On examination, there was marked restriction of straight leg raising on the right side with a reduced knee jerk and impaired sensation in the right L3 and L4 dermatomes. The provisional diagnosis was L4 root compression by a herniated L3/4 disc. Myelography with water -soluble...

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the influence of Fluori-Methane spray as a method of affecting passive range of motion measured at the right hip joint. Subjects were 30 normal volunteers randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. A special table was constructed to position and stabilize each subject for monitoring the right lower extremity's resistance to side-lyi...

Seven patients treated in infancy by a lumbar theco-peritoneal shunt for idiopathic communicating hydrocephalus presented later in childhood after developing a characteristic orthopaedic syndrome. This included a severe, rigid and progressive lumbar hyperlordosis, severe bilateral restriction of straight leg raising and abnormalities of stance and gait. Four of the patients, who had severe hype...

Infection of the intervertebral space is a rare complication of operation on the disc (Ford and Key 1955). It occurred in five cases in a series of 650 operations for lumbar disc protrusion done by two of the authors of this paper--an incidence of 0-8%. Symptoms began between seven and twelve days after operation. After initial relief of the original sciatic pain, the patients developed severe ...

This paper discusses specific techniques for rehabilitation of chronic low back pain through aggressive physical therapy with behavioral support. The rationale for approaching the outcome dimensions of impairments in back function and pain-related disability as opposed to chronic pain symptoms is explained. This approach requires that impairments in back function are systematically identified t...

Standing balance measured as sway and standing time both on one and two legs, was studied by use of a stable force platform (Kistler) in 36 patients aged 48-87 years with trans-tibial amputation and 27 healthy subjects matched for age. The aim of the study was to compare postural function in standing in two groups with unilateral trans-tibial amputations, separating vascular disease from trauma...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to compare the rectus abdominis and multifidus muscle activity and rectus abdominis/multifidus ratio ratios during various leg-raising exercises. [Subject and Methods] This study was conducted on 10 healthy males. Leg-raising exercises were performed in four different positions. [Results] The activity of the rectus abdominis was greatest for raising the le...

On curves, non-amputees' maximum running speed is slower on smaller radii and thought to be limited by the inside leg's mechanics. Similar speed decreases would be expected for non-amputees in both counterclockwise and clockwise directions because they have symmetric legs. However, sprinters with unilateral leg amputation have asymmetric legs, which may differentially affect curve-running perfo...