Research Evidence
Surgery for Shoulder Impingement
Is surgery for shoulder impingement of help to patients? I have no doubt that it helps some patients, but what is the evidence in regards to surgery versus conservative rehabilitation? The following literature caught my eye recently: Ketola et al (2013) A five-year randomised controlled trial examining the effectiveness of arthroscopic acromioplasty in the treatment of stage […]
Is it Peer Reviewed?
Please see the following link to an article written in a newspaper titled “The Australian”, by a gentleman named Brendan O’Neill. What do we want? Peer review. When do we want it? Never. Whilst this article mainly refers to climate change as an example of a scientific subject, I think this article is very relevant […]
VMO and Patellofemoral Pain
I have previously discussed Patellofemoral pain and the evidence base behind the diagnosis, pre-disposing factors and treatment of this disorder (link here). As discussed in the above-mentioned post a significant volume of literature would suggest that the clinical utility of “clinical tests” for diagnosing Patellofemoral pain is poor, that being they lack specificity, sensitivity, and […]
Stretching – What does it actually do?
I was always taught that stretching improved the flexibility of the muscle group. This occurred by changing the muscle structure, for example a structural change to the myofibril. The following three studies I recently read have been enlightening regarding this: Law et al (2009) A RCT investigating the effects of a 3 week stretching program […]
Diagnosis of Spinal Pain – Research Evidence
For this post I wanted to continue the trend of posts regarding the usefulness of clinical tests to diagnose specific “structural” dysfunctions. The previous post being about the hip, this post being about “spinal” clinical tests. How useful are our clinical tests in the diagnosis of spinal pain? I think the article by Cook and […]
Clinical Tests for the Hip – Labral Tears, Hip Impingement, Intra-articular Hip Pathologies.
Further to my last post I thought we might start by looking at the clinical usefulness of tests we do for diagnosis of hip disorders. So todays question: How useful are Clinical Tests for the Hip in diagnosing Labral Tears, Hip Impingement and/or Intra-artciular Hip Pathologies? Evidence Regarding Orthopaedic Clinical/Special Tests A systematic review by […]
Sensitivity, Specificity, Likelihood Ratios…..what do these terms mean!
My plan for upcoming posts is to begin to scrutinise the “orthopaedic” tests that we perform in clinical practice. When we really begin to look at the “usefulness” of many of our tests it becomes apparent that many of them have limitations. To begin with I first think we need to understand is what terms […]
Physiotherapy Treatment for Shoulder Pain – Research Evidence
Another Research Evidence post! This time the shoulder…..What is the research evidence in regards to Physiotherapy Treatment for Shoulder Pain? Diagnostic Tests Hughes et al (2008) A systematic review of investigations into the diagnostic accuracy of clinical tests for rotator cuff pathology. Conclusions: Overall, most tests for rotator cuff pathology were inaccurate and cannot be recommended for clinical use. […]
Education and Mindfulness – Research Evidence
Another short post, but one I intend to add to as I gather more research. As the title of this post eludes to…..this is about Research Evidence in relation to treatments such as Education and Mindfulness. Pain Physiology Education Louw et al (2011) Systematic Review to evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of neuroscience education […]
Classification of Back and Neck Pain – Research Evidence
There appears to be numerous methods in the attempt at Classification of Back and Neck Pain. The purpose of this post is to summarise some of the more common classification systems. In addition to this I have also included some references that debate the merits of classifying pain states. Spine Pain Classification Shah (2012) Moral […]
Connect
Connect with me on the following social media platforms.