Journal of Osteopathic Medicine最新文献

Context: Medical students report high levels of perceived stress and burnout, especially during the preclinical years. The combination of physical stressors from poor posture, poor sleep quality, and mental stressors from the rigorous curriculum stimulates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to secrete cortisol. Previous studies have shown that persistent elevated cortisol levels are associated with negative health outcomes.

Objectives: We conducted an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved study to determine if regular osteopathic manipulative treatments (OMTs) could impact the stress levels of first-year osteopathic medical students (OMSs) at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) Harlem campus by measuring physiologic stress through changes in weekly salivary cortisol levels, perceived emotional and psychological stress levels, and cognitive function.

Methods: We recruited 10 first-year OMSs who were not currently receiving external OMT outside of weekly coursework; other forms of external stress management, such as yoga or meditation, were not controlled for in this study. Utilizing a random number generator, the 10 student respondents were split into a control group that received no treatment and a treatment group that received 15 min of weekly OMT for 6 weeks. The treatment consisted of condylar decompression, paraspinal inhibition, and supine rib raising, which are techniques that are known to balance the SNS and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). Cortisol levels were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) cortisol immunoassay via salivary samples collected at the beginning of each weekly session, prior to treatment for the treatment group, at the same time of day each week. We also measured participants' weekly subjective perception of stress utilizing the College Student Stress Scale (CSSS) and cognitive function utilizing the Lumosity Performance Index (LPI). We conducted a two-tailed, unpaired t-test as well as a U test for the cortisol levels, given the smaller sample size and potential for a nonnormal distribution.

Results: A lower cortisol level was correlated to a higher optical density (OD), the logarithmic measure of percent transmission of light through a sample; analysis of our data from the ELISA cortisol immunoassay showed an average weekly change in OD (∆OD) for the treatment group of 0.0215 and an average weekly ∆OD of -0.0044 in the control group. The t-test showed p=0.0497, and our U test showed a p=0.0317. Both tests indicated a statistically significant decrease across the weekly salivary cortisol levels in the treatment group utilizing a p<0.05. An additional effect-size analysis supported our finding of a significant decrease in weekly cortisol levels in the treatment group, Cohen's d=1.460. Based on the CSSS responses, there was no significant difference in perceived stress b

Context: Runners often experience acute/chronic pain due to pre-existing structural somatic dysfunction and/or acquired various overuse injuries of the lower extremity, specifically affecting the ligaments, tendons, muscles, and bones. Common structural and function dysfunctions include but are not limited to patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), Achilles tendonitis, iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS), ligamentous and muscle tears, muscle sprains/strains, stress fractures, pes planus, plantar fasciitis, and shin splints.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the correlation between acute and chronic pain, overuse injuries, and observational and palpatory findings upon evaluation to establish common trends of somatic dysfunctions and determine possible etiology of the pain/injury.

Methods: A total of 103 individuals were recruited (54.4% female, 45.6% male) aged 23-67 years old who consistently run at least 1 mile each week. They were categorized based on their weekly mileage - Novice (1-5 miles per week), Moderate (6-15), Advanced (15+) - with the intention to have a diversity of running types and to assess the data at various levels of commitment to running. The average was 7.8 miles/week with the range at 1 to 28 miles per week. The subjects included Touro students and individuals in the community. A history was collected through an anonymous survey on the individual's running habits, chronic/acute injuries, and any other relevant medical information. Data analyzing investigators were blinded to subjects' identifying information. Additionally, an osteopathic assessment was performed by two student investigators for reliability purposes and conducted under supervision by a board-certified osteopathic physician.

Results: Analysis of the data suggested an existing correlation between the number of somatic dysfunctions and years of running. A slight correlation was found between somatic dysfunctions and miles per week, sports injuries, time per week, and lower extremity pain. Finally, statistical correlations were also identified between the presence of pes planus and limb length discrepancy with three distinct muscular hypertonicities.

Conclusions: Runners' pains and injuries of the lower extremity are complex, and injury treatment and prevention is equally multifaceted. An association was found between both pes planus and limb length discrepancy with lower extremity muscle hypertonicity, suggesting the interrelated nature of these somatic dysfunctions. The survey concluded that many runners continue to run in pain and/or after significant injury but do not necessarily capitalize on existing support such as fitted shoes, custom arches, and osteopathic treatment that may help to minimize their risk of or treat injury. The intention of the research is to bring awareness to practitioners to the most common somatic dysfunctions such

Overhead sports place a significant amount of stress on the shoulder. There are a variety of activities and sports with overhead athletes including both throwing (baseball, softball, football, cricket) and nonthrowing (tennis, swimming, volleyball) sports. Although all of these overhead motions can lead to pathology, a large focus has been on the consequences of overhead throwing. Overhead-throwing sports place forces on the joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments that vary through the spectrum of athletes, as does the potential injuries that may be caused by these forces. The primary joints that are commonly injured in overhead sports are the shoulder and the elbow. The goal of this article is to discuss the impact of overhead motions on the shoulder, with a primary focus on throwing, as well as to highlight the osteopathic approach to assessment, treatment, management, and prevention.

Injury to the elbow is very common in the throwing athlete and can potentially lead to long absences from play and, in the most severe scenarios, medical retirement. The throwing motion is a highly complex series of movements through the entire kinetic chain that results in very high angular velocities and valgus forces at the elbow joint. The repetitive nature of overhead throwing in combination with the high levels of accumulated force at the elbow puts both pediatric and adult athletes at risk of both acute and chronic overuse injuries of the elbow. This review provides an update on common injuries in the throwing athlete and covers clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of these injuries.

Context: Dystonia is a movement disorder that causes involuntary muscle contractions leading to abnormal movements and postures, such as twisting. Dystonia is the third most common movement disorder in the United States, with as many as 250,000 people affected. Because of its complexity, dystonia presents a significant challenge in terms of management and treatment. Despite limited research, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) has been considered as an adjunctive treatment due to its inexpensive and noninvasive nature, as opposed to other modalities such as botulinum toxin injections, deep brain stimulation (DBS), and transcranial magnetic stimulation, which are often expensive and inaccessible. OMT treatments performed in case studies and series such as balanced ligamentous tension/articular ligamentous strain (BLT/ALS), muscle energy (ME), high-velocity low-amplitude (HVLA), and myofascial release (MFR) have shown reduction of pain and muscle hypertonicity, including in patients with dystonia.

Objectives: The studies reviewed in this paper provide a snapshot of the literature regarding the current evidence of OMT's role for dystonia.

Methods: A medical reference librarian conducted a thorough literature search across multiple databases including PubMed and Google Scholar to find articles relevant to the use of OMT for dystonia. The search employed a combination of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and keywords related to osteopathic medicine and dystonia to ensure precise retrieval of relevant articles within the last 20 years. Despite limited research on the topic, all four relevant reports found in the literature were selected for review.

Results: Of the four relevant reports, case series and studies highlighted the potential benefits of OMT in managing dystonia, particularly cervical dystonia and foot dystonia. OMT has shown promising results addressing pain, stiffness, and impaired motor function. In cases of foot dystonia in Parkinson's disease, OMT has helped improve gait and reduce pain by targeting somatic dysfunctions (SDs) associated with dystonia, such as abnormalities in foot progression angle (FPA) and musculoskeletal imbalances. Also, OMT has been found to alleviate symptoms of cervical dystonia, including tremors, muscle spasms, and neck stiffness. These interventions performed in case studies and series led to improvements in gait biomechanics in foot dystonia and overall symptom severity in patients with cervical dystonia.

Conclusions: Currently, botulinum toxin, oral medications, physical therapy, and rehabilitation are commonly utilized in managing dystonia. The studies reviewed in this paper suggest that these treatments may lead to improvements in pain and muscle hypertonicity in patients with dystonia. It is important to investigate whether factors such as the type of dystonia (eg, focal vs. segmental) a

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherosclerotic disease that contributes to significant morbidity and mortality, including loss of limb, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and death. Treatment options are often underutilized. A major limiting factor in PAD care is the ability to efficiently identify and screen at-risk patients. A PAD patient screening and clinician decision support tool was created to improve access to high-quality, evidence-based care to drive improved clinical outcomes. The tool identifies known PAD risk factors and presenting symptoms, in combination with objective data obtained via the ankle-brachial index (ABI). The tool utilizes this data to drive PAD diagnosis, risk assessment, and treatment, and it is adaptable across multiple care settings, by varied health professions. The implementation of a PAD screening and treatment toolkit enhances anticoagulation and PAD stewardship, and it has been integrated into use across various care settings.

Context: This is a follow-up to the original published article, Effects of the Strong Hearts Program after a Major Cardiovascular Event in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease.

Objectives: This study evaluated the long-term efficacy of the Strong Hearts program up to 2 years after program completion.

Methods: All study participants who initially completed the Strong Hearts program between 2020 and 2021 (n=128) were contacted at 12 months and 24 months following the date of program completion. A phone survey was conducted to see if any significant post-cardiovascular events or readmissions to the hospital occurred, and self-reported dates of any occurrences were recorded. Hospital readmissions and cardiac-related procedures were cross-referenced with the hospital's electronic medical record. A chi-square goodness-of-fit analysis was utilized to compare the observed rates of categorical outcomes vs. expected rates yielded from the empirical literature.

Results: The rate of all-cause readmission at 6 months post-program completion was 2/120 (1.7 %), compared to the expected rate of 50 %, χ²(1) = 112.13, p<0.001. The readmission rate at 1 year post-program completion was 17/120 (14.2 %), vs. the expected rate of 45 %, χ²(1) = 46.09, p<0.001, and at 2 years post-program completion, the readmission rate was 24/120 (20.0 %) compared to the expected rate of 53.8 %, χ²(1) = 56.43, p<0.001. Ten participants (8.3 %) had a subsequent cardiac procedure within 2 years of completing the program, including two requiring percutaneous coronary intervention (1.7 %) and eight requiring coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG, 6.7 %), compared to the expected rates of 13.4 and 57.74 %, χ²(1)=153.08, p<0.001, respectively. Mortality at 2 years post-program completion was 2/128 (1.6 %), compared to 23.4 %, χ²(1)=34.13, p<0.001.

Conclusions: Efficacy of the Strong Hearts program continued at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years post-program completion in terms of all-cause readmission, subsequent cardiac event, and all-cause mortality.

Context: There is an increasing number of medical school graduates opting for surgical specialties, and the osteopathic applicant match rate for urology is lower than that of allopathic applicants. Factors influencing this may include a lack of interest, perceived challenges in matching into urology, insufficient urology mentorship, limited research opportunities, and inadequate osteopathic representation in urology.

Objectives: The objective of this survey is to assess osteopathic medical students' perspectives on pursuing urology and enhancing preclinical exposure to and knowledge of urology.

Methods: A 20-question survey addressing experiences and the factors influencing osteopathic medical students' specialty selection and their interest in and perception of urology was designed by the investigators on Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) software. This survey was distributed via email listserv to all current osteopathic medical students attending Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine over 2 months. Responses were collected and analyzed utilizing Fisher's exact test.

Results: Among 150 respondents, 91 % found mentors crucial in selecting a medical specialty, 95 % emphasized the importance of early exposure, and 68 % lacked familiarity with urology, with more M1 students unfamiliar with urology compared to M2 (70.4 % vs. 59 %). A larger proportion of combined M1 and M2 (preclinical) students are considering urology as a specialty compared to M3 and M4 (clinical) students who are actively on rotations (56.5 % vs. 28.6 %; p=0.0064). Also, a greater percentage of males are considering urology compared to females (64.2 % vs. 42.7 %; p=0.0164). Among those considering urology (n=75), 57.3 % lack awareness of urology's scope, and 84 % report no preclinical discussions with urologists. Those students who report that they are considering urology value early exposure significantly more than others (98.7 % vs. 78.7 %; p=0.0001). They also express greater interest in having a core urology course (73.3 % vs. 38.7 %; p<0.0001). More urology-considering students are interested in extracurricular urology-related workshops, seminars, or conferences (61.3 % vs. 17.3 %; p<0.0001). Students who are considering urology as a specialty show greater interest in having a mentorship program (85.3 % vs. 28 %; p<0.0001).

Conclusions: Results suggested that increased urology exposure during the preclinical years is important. Urology elective offerings and urology mentorship are of high interest among those considering urology. However, additional investigation is needed to determine the impact of preclinical urology curricula implementation on urology match outcomes.

Context: Deep organ-space infection (OSI) following gynecologic surgery is a source of patient morbidity and mortality. There is currently conflicting evidence regarding the use of bowel preparation prior to gynecologic surgery to reduce the rates of infection. For the additional purpose of improving patient recovery at our own institution, a retrospective cohort study compared the rate of deep OSI in patients who received oral antibiotic bowel preparation per Nichols-Condon bowel preparation with metronidazole and neomycin.

Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to compare the rate of deep organ-space surgical site infection in gynecologic surgery before and after institution of an oral antibiotic bowel preparation, thus assessing whether the preparation is associated with decreased infection rate. The secondary objective was to identify other factors associated with deep organ-space site infection.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed. Demographic and surgical data were collected via chart review of 1,017 intra-abdominal surgeries performed by gynecologic oncologists at a single institution from April 1, 2019 to December 1, 2021. Of these, 778 met the inclusion criteria; 444 did not receive preoperative oral antibiotic bowel preparation, and 334 did receive preoperative bowel preparation. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated, and a logistic regression model was utilized for categorical variables. Multivariable regression analysis was performed.

Results: A total of 778 patients were included. Deep OSI rate in patients who did not receive oral antibiotic bowel preparation was 2.3 % compared to 0.3 % (OR 0.13, confidence interval [CI] 0.06-1.03, p=0.02) in patients who did. Receiving oral antibiotic bowel preparation predicted absence of deep OSI (OR 0.04, CI 0.00-0.87, p=0.04). Laparotomy (OR 20.1, CI 1.6-250.2, p=0.02) and Asian race (OR 60.8, CI 2.6-1,380.5, p=0.01) were related to increased rates of deep OSI.

Conclusions: Oral antibiotic bowel preparation predicts a reduced risk of deep OSI. This preparation is inexpensive and low-risk, and thus these clinically significant results support a promising regimen to improve surgical outcomes, and provide guidance for prospective larger studies.