ObjectiveTo investigate the safety and efficacy of intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) in the treatment of deep venous thrombosis (DVT). MethodsThe clinical data of 496 patients with DVT who were treated in our hospital from January 2010 to October 2014 were analyzed retrospectively, to compare the time of venous pressure decreased to normal (T1) and time of circumference difference decreased to normal (T2) in patients received pure therapy (control group) and pure therapy combined with IPC (combination group), according to different types of patients in acute, sub-acute, and chronic phase. In addition, comparison of the remission rate of pulmonary embolism (PE), incidence of PE, and recurrence of DVT was performed between the control group and combination group too. Results① For DVT patients in acute stage, the time of T1 and T2 of patients in central type, peripheral type, and mixed type who received anticoagulant therapy/systemic thrombolysis/catheter thrombolysis+IPC, were significantly shorter than those patients who received only anticoagulant therapy/systemic thrombolysis/catheter thrombolysis (P<0.05). For DVT patients in sub-acute stage, the time of T1 and T2 of patients in central type and mixed type who received anticoagulant therapy/systemic thrombolysis+IPC, were significantly shorter than those of patients who received only anticoagulant therapy/systemic thrombolysis (P<0.05), the time of T1 of patients in peripheral type who received anticoagulant therapy/systemic thrombolysis+IPC, were significantly shorter than those of patients who received only anticoagulant therapy/systemic thrombolysis (P<0.01), but the time of T2 of patients in peripheral type didn't differed between patients who received only anticoagulant therapy/systemic thrombolysis and anticoagulant therapy/systemic thrombolysis +IPC (P>0.05). For DVT patients in chronic stage, the time of T1 and T2 of patients in central type and mixed type didn't differed between patients who received only anticoagulant therapy and anticoagulant therapy +IPC (P>0.05); the time of T1 of patients in peripheral type who received anticoagulant therapy+IPC, were significantly shorter than those of patients who received only anticoagulant therapy (P<0.05), but the time of T2 didn't differed with each other (P>0.05). ② There were 63 patients in control group and 47 patients in combination group had PE before treatment. After the treatment, the PE symptom of control group relieved in 56 patients (88.89%, 56/63) and maintained in 7 patients (11.11%, 7/63), the symptom of combination group relieved in 44 patients (93.62%, 44/47) and maintained in 3 patients (6.38%, 3/47), so the remission rate of PE symptom in combination group was higher (P<0.05). There were 6 patients suffered from new PE in control group[4.26% (6/141)] and 0 in combination group[0 (0/245)] after treatment in patients who hadn't PE before treatment, and the incidence of PE was lower in combination group (P<0.05). ③ There were 325 patients were followed up for 3-36 months with the median time of 27 months, including 157 patents in control group and 168 patients in combination group. During the follow-up period, 74 patients recurred[47.13% (74/157)] in control group and 46 patients recurred[27.38% (46/168)] in combination group, and the recurrence rate was lower in combination group (P<0.05). In addition, 41 patients suffered from post-thrombotic syndrome[26.11% (41/157)] in control group and 27 patients[16.07% (27/168)] in combination group, and the incidence of post-thrombotic syndrome was lower in combination group (P<0.05). ConclusionsIPC can significantly shorten the time of venous pressure and the circumference difference decreased to normal for DVT patients in acute stage and majority DVT patients in sub-acute stage, and it can relieve the clinical symptoms of PE, reduce the incidence rate of PE and recurrence rate of DVT. Therefore, IPC is a safe, reliable, and effective treatment for DVT patients in acute stage and majority DVT patients in sub-acute stage.
Objective To explore the influence of discectomy and artificial disc replacement on the upper lumbar facet joint and to provide the evidence for use of artificial disc replacement. Methods Under the loads of 200-2 000 N axis pressure and 1-10 Nm back-extending/side-bending pressure on the 7 fresh adult corpses, the pressure of L3,4facet joint was measured in the case of L4,5disc integrity, discectomy and artificial disc replacement and the statistical analysis was done.ResultsUnder the same load (axis, back-extending/side bending), there were significant differences (Plt;0.01) in the pressure of upper lumbar facet jointboth between disc integrity and discectomy and between discectomy and artificial disc replacement, and there was no difference(Pgt;0.05) between disc integrity and artificial disc replacement. Conclusion The stress ofupper lumbar facet joint reduced after discectomy, it implies that simply discectomy may change biomechanics of lumbar and lead to secondary lumbar structure degeneration. The stress of upper lumbar facet joint is close to the normal value after artificial disc replancement, it implies that artificial disc replacement may protect lumbar structure. It provides some biomechanics foundation and evidence for artificial disc replacement.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of nickel-titanium shape memory alloy compression anastomosis clip (Ni-Ti CAC) for gastrointestinal anastomosis. MethodsThe Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Knowledge and CBM databases were searched for the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the efficacy and safety of Ni-Ti CAC versus surgical stapler for gastrointestinal anastomosis. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2. ResultsEight RCTs involving 457 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the surgical stapler group, the Ni-Ti CAC group was superior in operation time (MD=-8.30, 95%CI-15.58 to-1.02, P=0.03), food intake (MD=-0.37, 95%CI-0.70 to-0.03, P=0.03), bowel movement (MD=-1.13, 95%CI-1.67 to-0.59, P < 0.000 1), passing gas time (MD=-0.30, 95%CI-0.55 to-0.06, P=0.01), and length of hospital stay (MD=-1.04, 95%CI-1.35 to-0.74, P < 0.000 01), with significant differences. No significant difference was found in anastomosis time (MD=-1.84, 95%CI-3.91 to 0.22, P=0.08). As for safety, no significant difference was found in anastomosis-related complications between both groups. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that Ni-Ti CAC achieves better efficacy and safety in gastrointestinal anastomosis compared with surgical stapler.
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been proven to promote human balance, but research on its impact on motor ability mainly focuses on external physical analysis, with little analysis on the intrinsic neural regulatory mechanisms. This study, for the first time, investigated the effects of NMES on cortical activity and cortico-muscular functional coupling (CMFC) during standing balance. Twelve healthy subjects were recruited in bilateral NMES training, with each session consisting of 60 electrically induced isometric contractions. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, electromyogram (EMG) signals, and center of pressure (COP) signals of the foot sole were collected before stimulation, two weeks after stimulation, and four weeks after stimulation while the subjects maintained standing balance. The results showed that NMES training improved subjects' postural stability during standing balance. Additionally, based on the EMG power spectral density (PSD), the κ frequency band was defined, and EEG-EMG time-frequency maximal information coefficients (TFMIC) were calculated. It was found that NMES enhanced functional connectivity between the cortex and lower limb muscles, with varying degrees of increase in β-κ and γ-κ frequency band CMFC after stimulation. Furthermore, sample entropy (SE) of EEG signals also increased after training. The results of this study confirm that NMES training can enhance CMFC and brain activation during standing balance. This study, from the perspective of physiological electrical signals, validates the effectiveness of NMES for balance training and provides objective assessment metrics for the training effects of NMES.
Forced oscillation technique (FOT) is an active method to test pulmonary function, which can derive the mechanical characteristics of the respiratory system with liner system identification theory by pushing in an oscillation air signal and measuring the changes of output pressure and flow. A pulmonary function determination system was developed based on the FOT in this paper. Several critical technologies of this determination system were analyzed, including the selection criteria of oscillation air generator, pressure and flow sensor, the signal design of oscillation air generator, and the synchronous sampling of pressure and flow data. A software program on LabVIEW platform was set up to control the determination system and get the measuring data. The performance of sensors and oscillation air generator was verified. According to the frequency response curve of the pressure, the amplitude of driving signal to the oscillation air generator was corrected at the frequency range between 4~40 Hz. A simulation experiment was carried out to measure the respiratory impedance of the active model lung ASL5000 and the results were close to the setting values of the model lung. The experiment testified that the pulmonary function determination system based on FOT had performance good enough to provide a tool for the in-depth research of the mechanical properties of the respiratory system.