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Accurate prenatal diagnosis of congenital duodenal obstruction (CDO) is challenging. We aimed to determine new ultrasound metrics for accurate prenatal diagnosis of fetal CDO. Data pertaining to 46 fetuses with suspected small intestinal obstruction (26 CDO; 16 high jejunal obstructions) were retrospectively analyzed. Prenatal ultrasonographic features including dilated intestinal length, stomach length, maximum intestinal dilatation, ratio of dilated intestinal length at late gestation and dilated stomach length (I/S ratio), and location of distal end of dilated bowel segment relative to spine were compared between CDO and high jejunal obstruction groups. The diagnostic performance of ultrasound indices was evaluated using receiver operating characteristics curve analysis. In 25 out of 26 CDO cases, the distal end of the dilated small intestine segment was located on the right side of spine, while that in the high jejunal obstruction group was located on the left side of spine. The dilated intestinal length and I/S ratio in CDO group were significantly smaller than those in high jejunal obstruction group (p < .05). Dilated intestinal length r = 0.686; 0.660, p < .001, respectively) were noted. Location of the distal end of the dilated small intestine segment relative to the spine, dilated intestinal length, and I/S ratio may help differentiate fetal CDO from high jejunal obstruction. The latter two metrics were associated with the site of obstruction in CDO patients.

Background Muscular performance is an important factor for the mechanical stability of lumbar spine in humans, in which, the co-contraction of lumbar muscles plays a key role. We hypothesized that when executing different daily living motions, the performance of the lumbar muscle co-contraction stabilization mechanism varies between patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and healthy controls. Hence, in this study, co-contraction performance of lumbar muscles between patients with LDH and healthy subjects was explored to check if there are significant differences between the two groups when performing four representative movements. Methods Twenty-six LDH patients (15 females, 11 males) and a control group of twenty-eight subjects (16 females, 12 males) were recruited. Surface electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded from the external oblique, lumbar multifidus, and internal oblique/transversus abdominis muscles during the execution of four types of movement, namely: forward bending, backward bending, left lateral flexion and right lateral flexion. The acquired EMG signals were segmented, and wavelet decomposition was performed followed by reconstruction of the low-frequency components of the signal. Then, the reconstructed signals were used for further analysis. Co-contraction ratio was employed to assess muscle coordination and compare it between the LDH patients and healthy controls. The corresponding signals of the subjects in the two groups were compared to evaluate the differences in agonistic and antagonistic muscle performance during the different motions. Also, sample entropy was applied to evaluate complexity changes in lumbar muscle recruitment during the movements. Results Significant differences between the LDH and control groups were found in the studied situations (p

Despite the important role played by muscle co-contraction in stabilizing and stiffening the spine during daily activities, the effects of multi-movement models on the lumbar co-contraction are yet to be explored. This study explores the co-contraction features of lumbar muscle in subjects with and without low back pain while they perform four different movements namely forward, backward, left flexion and right flexion lumbar actions. Surface electromyography (EMG) signals of three paired lumbar muscles were measured from a total number of 60 subjects while they performed specified movement models. Co-contraction ratio (CCR), defined as ratio of normalized integration of antagonist EMG activities to the total muscle activities, were accessed, and questionnaires about pain intensity were collected with visual analogue scale (VAS). The results showed that the CCR of LBP at forward (p = 0.007) and right flexion (p = 0.011) models was significantly greater than that of healthy controls, respectively. Also, CCR was significantly different among forward, backward, left flexion and right flexion models (p

Through the investigation of the difference of approximate entropy (ApEn) and Hilbert-Huang Transform Marginal spectrum entropy (HHTMSEn) of the Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals of specific low back pain (SLBP) patients before and after the massage, we wanted to reveal the impact of the massage in the brain, and provided the basis for the massage treatment of SLBP patients. We recruited twenty-six SLBP patients and collected their spontaneous EEG signals before and after the massage. Firstly, we analyzed the ApEn and HHTMSEn of fourteen channels before and after the massage, and results showed that values of ApEn and HHTMSEn after the massage were less than the values before the massage significantly. And then, we extracted δ, θ, α and β rhythms of the EEG signal, and analyzed the ApEn and HHTMSEn of the four rhythms before and after the massage. The results showed that the ApEn values of δ and α rhythm after the massage were significantly less than the values before the massage, and the HHTMSEn values of β rhythms were significantly less than the values before the massage. The results of this study suggested the complexity of EEG signals was reduced with the relief of the pain after the massage therapy, and the change of pain of the SLBP patients was closely related to the change of the rhythms of the brain in the massage therapy, and the ApEn and the HHTMSEn features could serve as a base for quantitative assessment of SLBP condition after the massage therapy.

The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristic of trunk angle and flexibility of spine in lumbar disc herniation (LDH) patients, non-specific low back pain (LBP) patients and healthy subjects during bending exercises. 35 patients with LDH, 32 patients with non-specific LBP and 24 healthy controls participated in this experiment, volunteered to stand, then bend forward as far as possible, stay fully flexed, and return to stand with performing five cycles. As an indirect measure of spine performance, the trunk angle captured using motion sensors. We estimated the degree of spine activity by comparing the trunk angle between LDH, LBP and healthy controls in roll, pitch and yaw planes, respectively. As results, the significant differences between LDH, LBP and healthy controls in the female group of volunteers was found for trunk angle of three planes (p< 0.05). Between female and male had differences of trunk angle in LDH, LBP and healthy controls, respectively. Combined the most frequently used visual analog scale (VAS) for the pain of clinical research to explore the characteristic of subjective response of the patient on trunk angle by objective measurement, which might be a useful tool to reflect the abnormal degree of the spine in the diagnosis of spine and rehabilitation. In summary, these results advised LDH and LBP patients to do strength training reasonably to restore lumbar muscle function and assist in stabilizing the spine.