The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, types, and mechanisms of injury in Finnish ice hockey players at the highest competition level in different decades. Several teams were observed prospectively during the seasons between 1976 and 1979, and in the 1988 to 1989 and 1992 to 1993 ...

OBJECTIVE: The biomechanics of wheelchair propulsion have been linked to upper extremity injury. Specifically, prior studies have correlated increased median nerve dysfunction with increasing propulsion frequency and a higher rate of rise of the resultant, or total, pushrim force. Despite this link, there is little research on the effect of ...

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal physical training-related injuries are a major problem in military populations. Injuries are important in terms of loss of time from work and training and decreased military readiness. The implications of these injuries in terms of patient morbidity, attrition rates, and training costs for military personnel are staggering. This ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the measurement properties of measures used to evaluate fitness and health status in the spinal cord injury (SCI) population. DESIGN: Inception cohort assessed during standardized exercise protocols at admission, discharge, and 8-week follow-up from a SCI rehabilitation program. SETTING: Urban tertiary care hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred two ...

SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM: The numerous health benefits of physical activity have been well documented, resulting in public health support of regular physical activity and exercise. Although beneficial, exercise also has corresponding risks, including musculoskeletal injuries. The incidence and risk factors for exercise-related injury have been poorly assessed in women. ...

To compare tilt-induced alterations in cardiovascular homeostasis and cerebral oxygenation of spinal cord-injured (SCI) to able-bodied (AB) individuals. Subjects underwent 10 min supine rest followed by 10 min 70 degrees head-up tilt. The last 5 min of supine rest and head-up tilt were analyzed, provided a steady state existed. SCI ...

The purpose of this study was to examine the cardiovascular responses at the onset of passive leg cycle exercise (PLCE) in paraplegics with spinal cord injury (PSCI) to investigate the increase in venous return from the paralyzed lower limbs during PLCE. Six male PSCI having lesions at levels ranging from ...

Physicians caring for patients with spinal cord injury facilitate neurologic recovery by optimizing nutrition and general health, by coordinating active exercise and functional training to enhance the underlying synapse growth, reversal of muscle atrophy, and motor learning, and by controlling interfering spasticity. SCI physicians also must monitor for neurologic decline ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of passive leg cycling exercise on myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoform and ubiquitin (UBI) protease mRNA expression in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). STUDY DESIGN: Case series. INTERVENTION: Eight SCI subjects (5 men, 3 women) participated in a 12-week exercise program involving the Psycle ...

PURPOSE: This study investigated the effect of muscle stretching during warm-up on the risk of exercise-related injury. METHODS: 1538 male army recruits were randomly allocated to stretch or control groups. During the ensuing 12 wk of training, both groups performed active warm-up exercises before physical training sessions. In addition, the ...

OBJECTIVES: (1) To determine patterns of intrinsic fluctuations in spasticity, using repeated self-ratings, in subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI); and (2) To determine the relation between self-ratings of spasticity using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and clinical ratings of spasticity using the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) before and after ...

The first modern textbook on spinal biomechanics was written by Giovanni Alfonso Borelli in 1680. A mathematician, astronomer, and physicist by trade, Borelli became consumed in the physical laws of nature and the human body. His work served as a monumental contribution to ascertain, in depth and with undiminished accuracy, ...

INTRODUCTION AND METHODS: Locomotor training leads to improvement of stepping ability in animals after spinal cord transection (1). Recent data point to neurotrophins as possible factors involved in this improvement. Motoneurones synthesising BDNF, NT-4 and NT-3 are a potent source of neurotrophins for the spinal network (2, 3). Physical exercise ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the main factors that influence physical work capacity (PWC) in wheelchair-dependent paraplegics with spinal cord injury (SCI) using multivariate analysis. Thirty-two male paraplegics with SCI (PSCI) performed a submaximal arm exercise test on an arm-cranking ergometer to determine their PWC (oxygen uptake: ...

Since its development more than twenty years ago, non-invasive near-infrared-spectroscopy (NIRS) has been widely used to monitor cerebral oxygenation. Despite of its growing number of users, the diagnostic value of near-infrared spectroscopy still remains unclear, especially in case of acute brain injury and long-term neuromonitoring, necessary during intensive care therapy. ...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in animals and man generates widespread axonal injury characterized by focal axolemmal permeability changes, induction of calpain-mediated proteolysis, and neurofilament side-arm modification associated with neurofilament compaction (NFC) evolving to axonal disconnection. Recent observations have suggested that moderate hypothermia is neuroprotective in several models of TBI. Nevertheless, ...

BACKGROUND: Postural modification in patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy either causes further H-reflex suppression, indicating increased root compression, or it effects recovery, indicating decompression of the spinal root. The posture that effects maximum recovery of the H-reflex amplitude is called optimum spinal posture (OSP) and is suggested as a therapeutic exercise ...

In this study, possible mechanisms underlying soleus muscle atrophy after spinal cord transection and attenuation of atrophy with cycling exercise were studied. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups; in two groups the spinal cord was transected by a lesion at T10. One group was transected and killed ...

We describe an unusual case of acute liver injury that followed food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIAn). A 45-year-old man who experienced anaphylactic shock induced by postprandial exercise and took alcohol that night was admitted the following day to our hospital because of general fatigue. Laboratory examinations revealed elevated hepatic enzymes (aspartate ...

This is the second part of a two-part comprehensive review of lateral ankle sprains. In the first part of our review, we discussed the etiology, natural history, pathoanatomy, mechanism of injury, histopathogenesis of healing, and diagnostic approach to acute and chronic lateral ligamentous ankle injuries. Conservative intervention and treatment of ...

OBJECTIVE: To report a case of isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism as a delayed consequence of major head injury. METHODS: We present the relevant history, findings on physical examination, and results of laboratory evaluation, and supportive data from appropriate reports in the literature are reviewed. RESULTS: A 37-year-old man with progressive loss ...

OBJECTIVE: To review literature pertaining to neurologic disorders stemming from abnormal postures of the spine. DATA COLLECTION: A hand search of available reference texts and a computer search of literature from Index Medicus sources was performed, with special emphasis placed on spinal cord stresses and strains caused by various postural ...

Studies were carried out to determine if an intraspinal transplant (Trpl) of fetal spinal cord tissue or hind limb exercise (Ex) affected the changes in myosin heavy chain (MyHC) composition or myofiber size that occur following a complete transection (Tx) of the lower thoracic spinal cord of the adult rat. ...

In this study, we examined the relationships between the consistency of hand use, exercise, and sports-related injuries as an indirect test of the hypothesis that the consistency of hand use is a reflection of general motor coordination. As we predicted, the consistent hand-use group (n = 23) exercised more, were ...

A substantial part of our work as physicians involves treating sport- and exercise-related injuries. We also recommend exercise, knowing that it will result in a certain number of acute and overuse injuries. As team physicians, we attend competitive events despite awareness that participants in certain sports run a high risk ...

OBJECTIVES: Laboratory studies suggest that myocardial reperfusion injury is exacerbated by free radicals when pure oxygen is used during cardiopulmonary bypass. In phase I of this study we demonstrated that normoxic perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass does not increase the risk of microembolic brain injury so long as a membrane oxygenator ...

PURPOSE: To compare the exercise habits in a sample of adult outpatients with epilepsy with those of a general population of the same age and sex and furthermore to study physical exercise as a seizure precipitant and the risk of sustaining seizure-related injuries while exercising. METHODS: Two hundred four adult ...

OBJECTIVE: Mortality prediction in trauma is assessed using the Injury Severity Score (ISS) and Revised Trauma Score using Trauma Injury Severity Score (TRISS) methodology. The Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) score assesses mortality risk in critically ill children. We compared the ability of PRISM and ISS (using TRISS methodology) to ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the pressor response to static exercise in subjects with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) at the C6 to C8 level with that in able-bodied control subjects. In these SCI subjects, the descending supraspinal sympathetic neurons and afferent pathways from the contracting muscles to peripheral vessels via the ...

Secondary hyperalgesia is characterized by increased sensitivity to noxious mechanical stimuli in the area surrounding injured skin. The pathophysiological mechanisms involve increased excitability of second-order neurons located in the spinal cord, i.e., central sensitization. The mechanisms behind this phenomenon may be of importance in clinical pain, including neuropathic pain. To ...

Feed-forward and feedback mechanisms are both important for control of the heart rate response to muscular exercise, but their origin and relative importance remain inadequately understood. To evaluate whether humoral mechanisms are of importance, the heart rate response to electrically induced cycling was studied in participants with spinal cord injury ...

The hydroxyl radical (*OH) is a very reactive oxygen-free radical species that has profound effects on myocardial contractility. We investigated the impact of *OH on free radical induced injury in right ventricular rabbit cardiac trabeculae. Additionally, we investigated the protective properties of the beta-adrenoceptor antagonist nebivolol. The contractile response to ...

BACKGROUND: We sought to explain the variation in injury rates found for categories of companies and contracts involved in the construction of the Denver International Airport (DIA) by surveying contractors about company and contract-level safety practices. METHODS: We conducted 213 telephone interviews (83% response) with representatives of contracts with payrolls ...

OBJECTIVE: To obtain information regarding syndesmotic ankle sprains and to identify a specific treatment modality that reduces the recovery time for syndesmotic ankle sprains. DESIGN AND SETTING: A mailed survey conducted from the Sports Medicine Department of Tufts University. SUBJECTS: I sent a survey to the head athletic trainers of ...

Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) have secondary medical disabilities that impair their ability to function. With paralysis, dramatic deleterious changes in body composition occur acutely with further adverse changes ensuing with increasing duration of injury. Lean mass, composed of skeletal muscle and bone, is lost and adiposity is relatively ...

INTRODUCTION: F-16 pilots have a high incidence of minor neck injuries. It was hypothesized that pilots who did neck strengthening exercises and pilots who used other preventive strategies would have fewer injuries. METHOD: We surveyed 268 U.S. Air Force F-16 pilots. Subjects were divided into two groups. Group I, the ...

We have investigated the relationship between the extent of spinal block and occurrence of sedation. In a first series of 43 patients, the distribution of sedation score (measured on the Ramsey scale) was related to the extent of spinal block (pinprick). In a second series of 33 patients, the relationship ...

PURPOSE: To correlate area and depth of initial corneal injury induced by surfactants of differing type and irritant properties with corneal responses and outcome in the same animals over time by using in vivo confocal microscopy (CM). METHODS: Six groups of six adult rabbits were treated with anionic, cationic, and ...

The use of various FES protocols to encourage increases in physical activity and to augment physical fitness and reduce heart disease risk is a relatively new, but growing field of investigation. The evidence so far supports its use in improving potential health benefits for patients with SCI. Such benefits may ...

The neutral zone (NZ) is a well-established parameter that describes the loose region of the spinal range of motion (ROM) where the spine moves easily with minimal applied force. The loose region is of interest clinically because in vitro studies show that with the onset of instability, this region increases ...

AIM: To evaluate haemostatic effectiveness and tissue effects of injected therapy agents used for peptic ulcer bleeding endoscopic control. METHODS: Bleeding gastric mucosa lesions were produced during operation in 11 heparinised dogs. Bleeding lesions were treated with injections of 1 ml of epinephrine (1:10000), ornipressin (0.2 IU/m]), 98% ethanol, 1% ...

Muscles of spinal cord-transected rats exhibit severe atrophy and a shift toward a faster phenotype. Exercise can partially prevent these changes. The goal of this study was to investigate early events involved in regulating the muscle response to spinal transection and passive hindlimb exercise. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized, ...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate responses to submaximal arm exercise (20%, 40%, and 60% of peak power output) using four conditions to support the circulatory redistribution in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Five males with tetraplegia (TP) and four males with paraplegia (PR) exercised 1) sitting, ...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate injury rates and changes in VO2peak in women associated with aerobic exercise (bench stepping and running). METHODS: A pretest post-test repeated measures design was used to evaluate changes in VO2peak after training for 10 weeks, 3 days per week, for 1 ...

PURPOSE:The objective of this survey was to estimate the frequency of injuries associated with five commonly performed moderately intense activities: walking for exercise, gardening and yard work, weightlifting, aerobic dance, and outdoor bicycling. METHODS: National estimates were derived from weighted responses of over 5,000 individuals contacted between April 28 and ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of different injury levels in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) on epinephrine (Epi) and norepinephrine (NE) at rest and during graded wheelchair exercise and the related changes in heart rate and O2 uptake (VO2). Twenty tetraplegics (Tetra), 10 high-lesion ...

This study investigated the regulation of reflex excitability in normal and midthoracic contusion-injured animals. Recent observations revealed that rate depression, a rate-modulatory process that decreases reflex excitability, was significantly decreased following experimental midthoracic contusion injury. The present experiments were performed to extend those studies and to determine if posttetanic potentiation ...

Over the years, golf has become an increasingly popular sport, attracting new players of almost all ages and socioeconomic groups. Golf is practised by up to 10 to 20% of the overall adult population in many countries. Beyond the enjoyment of the sport itself, the health-related benefits of the exercise ...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects that the recent seasonal change in rugby league from winter to summer has had on the incidence of injury. METHODS: All injuries that occurred during games and training were recorded throughout four consecutive seasons (three winter, one summer) for the first team squad of a ...

In order to define precisely the relation between descending monoaminergic systems and the motor system, we measured in the ventral horn of spinal cord of adult rats the variations of extracellular concentrations of 5-HT, 5-HIAA, DA and MHPG. Measurements were performed during rest, endurance running on a treadmill, and a ...