Earticle

The study examined the effect of pulsed therapeutic ultrasound in man-agement of patients with incessant pain at lower region of the back (PWIPLB) in comparison with kneading massage (KM). Fifty PWIPLB recruited purposively were randomly assigned into ultrasound group (USG) and KM group (KMG) equally. Subjects received back extension exercises as baseline treatment. USG received pulse ultrasound (PUS) while KMG was treated using KM. The treatments were administered 2 times weekly for a 6-week period. Severity of pain (SP) and inability of patient (IoP) were evaluated at baseline, 3rd week and 6th week of treatment. Values of the variables obtained were classified and the im-plications were summarised. A significant change was observed in precompared with posttreatment SP (F=32.6, P=0.000) and IoP (F=2.5, P<0.021) in USG. A significant change was observed in precompared with posttreatment IoP (F=4.1, P<0.05) but not in SP (F=2.9, P<0.086). In the 6th week, there was a significant reduction of SP in the USG rela-tive to SP in the KMG (F=11.98, P=0.000), and there was improvement significantly in the IoP in the KMG relative to that in the USG (F=2.58, P=0.05). PUS may be better than KM in management of SP but KM is better than PUS in IoP with PWCPLB.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of early-stage neurodevelopmental treatment on the growth of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. A total of 85 premature infants were in-cluded in this study. Infants with a birth weight of less than 2.5 kg and of 2.5 kg or higher were classified as premature infants with a high risk of growth delay and with a low risk of growth delay respectively. Of the 55 premature infants with a high risk of growth delay, 27 premature infants were placed in the intervention group and 28 were placed in the control group according to their hospitalization time. Thirty premature infants with a low risk of growth delay were included in the comparative group. The same general nursing care of the neonatal intensive care unit was provided to the intervention group, the control group, and the compara-tive group, but an additional neurodevelopmental treatment program was given only to the intervention group, for 15 min per session, 4 times a week, up to 40 weeks after conception. As growth indicators, the body weight and head circumference were measured before and 2 weeks after the intervention, and at 40 weeks after conception when the intervention was completed. The body weight and head circumfer-ence of the intervention group, which received the neurodevelopmental treatment, were significantly improved compared to the control group (P<0.05), but they were not significantly different from those of the comparative group. However, the body weight and head circumference of the control

The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of knee positions on car-diac compression variables in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) us-ing the manikin. Adult with career of CPR instructor (n=9; mean age, 27.11±6.60 years; mean heights, 177.39±4.40 cm; mean weights, 69.45±14.85 kg) participated in the experiment, and each participant performed cardiac compression from two different knee positions. Car-diac compression was 30 times per minute for each position with order of position randomized. The results obtained from variables of cardiac compression force were composed of compression velocity, elapsed time, decay rate, and loading rate in maximum and minimum medial-lat-eral, anterior-posterior (AP), vertical direction respectively. The above variables in 20.3 cm of knee position showed effective result than that of 50 cm of knee position, while maximum AP compression force in-creased. Given the often predictable setting of sports and exercise re-habilitation related with cardiac arrest, CPR relative to change of knee position were significantly associated with more efficient cardiac com-pression variables. These data have significant implications for health services program in fields of sports and exercise rehabilitation.