Vol 10, No 2 (2011)

Pain is considered to be one of the major syndromes of a peripheral nerve lesion. The present experimental study was carried out to evaluate the influence of blue light on compression-ischemic neuropathy using a rat model. The neurochistological examination of an injured nerve following photochromotherapy with the use of a blue light revealed a reduction in the severity of the traumatic lesion expressed as a significantly decreased number of nerve filaments undergoing degenerative changes in the form of enhanced argentophilia. The clinical portion of the study was designed to evaluate effects of visible monochromatic blue light (with a mean wavelength of 470 nm) on the clinical characteristics of neuropathic pain syndrome in 47 patients presenting with compression-ischemic and traumatic neuropathies. The psychopathological examination using a four point visual-analog scale of pain, the neuropathic pain diagnostic questionnaire (DN4), and the SF-36 Health Status Survey questionnaire has demonstrated a 2-3 fold faster elimination of neurologic signs and symptoms, reduced severity of pain, and the improved quality of life in the treated patents compared with control ones.

The long-term observation of 1460 patients suffering upper limb oedema after the radical treatment of primary breast cancer has demonstrated high efficiency of medical rehabilitation and remarkable stability of its outcome. The remedial procedures used in this study included pneumocompression, muscular electrostimulation, and low-frequency magnetotherapy. The authors emphasize the importance of the early beginning of postoperative rehabilitation as well as its multifaceted character. Analysis of the survivorship data obtained in the study revealed the lack of undesirable effects of the above physiotherapeutic methods on the clinical course of stage I-III B breast cancer in patients who underwent surgical treatment and showed no manifestations of malignant neoplasms during the rehabilitation period. It is concluded that the proposed rehabilitation programs are safe for the patients presenting with upper limb oedema in terms of oncological outcome.

The physical rehabilitation following endoprosthetic treatment and coronary artery bypass surgery is an important indispensable component of combined remedial therapy. However, the assessment of its efficacy encounters difficulties because the examination by the traditional electrocardiographic technique fails to provide detailed information about inotropic reserves of the myocardium before and after the treatment. We propose to use transoesophageal stress echocardiography for the thorough evaluation of this parameter. This approach allows the optimal quality of the images to be achieved and accounts for their maximum diagnostic accuracy. The study involving 35 patients at the mean age of 51.3 +- 7.8 years has demonstrated that those given comprehensive physical rehabilitation (n = 12) had the highest left ventricular ejection fraction (mean 90 +- 2.5%) and pressure/volume ratio at the peak of physical exercises. The patients who passed though a partial course of physical rehabilitation (n = 15) showed much worse characteristics of the systolic function. They were even lower in the control group of patients (n = 8) who refused to undergo the course of spa and resort-based rehabilitative therapy (mean 80 ± 5%).

The objective of the present study was to evaluate age-related characteristics of the facial skin in 60 women before and after a course of its electrostimulation. A software-hardware diagnostic complex was used to estimate the dermatological status of the patients and determine parameters of their cutaneous microcirculation based on the results of laser Doppler flowmetry. The patients' psychological conditions were evaluated using the wellbeing-activity-mood test. The results of the study indicate that electromyostimulation improves characteristics of the facial skin, such as its elasticity, and reduces skin line and wrinkles (rhytides). Electrostimulation has positive effect on cutaneous microcirculation in women with the hyperemic type of hemodynamics due to its decongestive action at the venular level and normalization of the arterioral tone. The high efficacy of electromyostimulation as a method for the correction of facial skin changes is most likely to be achieved in younger women having the inelastic facial skin, the hyperemic type of hemodynamics, and the low level of mood and activity.

The use of low-power infrared laser therapy in a continuously varying frequency mode for the treatment of patients presenting with atopic dermatitis was shown to promote regression of objective and subjective manifestations of the disease, correct the disbalance between cellular and humoral immunity, and significantly improve the quality of life.

The present experimental study has demonstrated the possibility to increase the degree of immunodepression by combining the application of microwaves to the region of adrenal glands and the use of medicinal preparations inhibiting nucleic acid synthesis. The data obtained indicate that the doses of a cytostatic drug administered to the patients can be reduced by its combinination with the application of microwaves to the adrenal gland region without compromising their immunodepressive effect.