Articles related toMusculoskeletal Medicine and Pain

Physicians who evaluate young patients with concussion can protect them from sustaining further injury by using return to play guidelines and educating patients and their families. When implemented, these clinical scales and guidelines can prevent secondary injury and improve the ongoing care and long term outcomes of these patients. The authors review health risks and warning signs of concussion through information disseminated by schools and youth sports organizations.

Coaches and swimmers often seek ways to increase range of motion in the ankles. In this study of 15 healthy adolescent participants, researchers assessed whether applying the muscle energy technique principle of postisometric relaxation improved swimming performance.

The author offers feedback on a previously published article: Patel KG, Sabini RC. Safety of osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine as an adjunct to conventional postconcussion symptom management: a pilot study. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2018;118(6):403-409. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2018.061

The authors respond to a Letter to the Editor from Evelyn Eakin, DO regarding their article: Patel KG, Sabini RC. Safety of osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine as an adjunct to conventional postconcussion symptom management: a pilot study. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2018;118(6):403-409. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2018.061

In the first of 3 reports from this research group in this issue, college athletes with concussion were evaluated for somatic dysfunction of the cranium within 1 week of injury, comparing force vectors and strain patterns with evaluate association trends.

The authors review the pathophysiological mechanisms and cascades that accompany a mild traumatic brain injury and evaluate information on the emergence of serum biomarkers (both those that are currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and those still under investigation).

In this pre-post study conducted at a community-based teaching hospital in Oregon, the research group evaluated the clinical effectiveness of an 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course for patients with chronic pain.

While the vascular and cardiac effects of diabetes mellitus (DM) have been well-studied, the prevalence of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions in patients with diabetes is less clear; the authors review the current literature documenting common MSK and DM comorbidities, as well as treatment approaches.

In this narrative review, the authors summarize literature published in the last decade and analyze the relationship between musculoskeletal disorders and systemic medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus.

The authors present the case of a 24-year-old man who sustained a right sacral fracture, bilateral femoral fractures, a separated pubic symphysis, and compression fractures of the fifth and sixth thoracic vertebrae after a parachute landing and whose treatment involved gait correction achieved with left-sided heel lift and custom molded orthotics to level his sacral base.