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Biomedical subjects

A Nachemson

Publications and source records attributed to A Nachemson.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Nutrition of the intervertebral disc: solute transport and metabolism.

The metabolism of the canine nucleus pulposus was investigated at different oxygen tensions. It was found that even at high oxygen tensions the metabolism is mainly anaerobic, only approximately 1.5% of the glucose being converted to carbon dioxide. The concentration dependence of oxygen consumption is limited to very low oxygen tensions. Values of oxygen consumption and lactic acid production were used to calculate the concentration profiles of these substances within the nucleus pulposus, using a diffusion theory. The predicted concentration profiles were compared with the experimental measurements of concentration at various positions in the disc. The good agreement in these values found in the nucleus confirms that the main mechanism of metabolite transport is diffusion, and the main route of nutrient supply into the nucleus is via the endplate.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1981

The changing pattern of scoliosis treatment due to effective screening.

We evaluated the effects over a ten-year period of a program for early detection and treatment of idiopathic scoliosis in a stable population of 1.5 million people. Seven hundred and twenty-five patients with a scoliosis of more than 20 degrees (as measured with Cobb's method) and who were twenty years old or younger were followed during this period. Although treatment principles remained essentially the same, the percentage of patients who required an operation each year decreased. The magnitude of the ten most severe curves detected each year decreased from an average of 64 degrees to 44 degrees. Efforts to detect scoliosis early have resulted in a threefold increase in the number of patients treated for scoliosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

[Backache].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Back Pain↗
PubMed1980

Auto-traction for treatment of lumbago-sciatica. A multicentre controlled investigation.

In this controlled prospective study of the Auto-traction method for the treatment of lumbago-sciatica, 82 patients were randomly allocated to either treatment with Auto-traction for up to three 1-hour sessions in 1 week, or they were given a corset and advised to rest. The orthopaedic surgeons participating in the study worked at six different hospitals and all had limited experience of the Auto-traction method obtained during a 1-week course. All patients were clinically evaluated by an independent observer who also performed the follow-up examinations 1 and 3 weeks after the treatment sessions. In addition a 3-month follow-up was performed by letter. The Auto-traction method gave prompt relief of pain and a normalizing of the SLR test more often than treatment with only a corset and rest. The difference between the two treatment groups was statistically significant. The immediate difference noted between the treatment groups had decreased slightly at 3 weeks but was still statistically significant at this time.

Back Pain↗
PubMed1979

Disc pressure measurements in para- and tetraplegic patients. A study of of mobilization and exercise in para- and tetraplegic patients.

The intradiscal lumbar pressure was measured in 10 patients with para- or tetraplegia and in one normal subject. The pressure was registered both in the horizontal position and during tilting on a table, during the performance of a standardized exercise program for the upper extremities, as well as during cough, during abdominal strain and while the subjects were being turned from the supine to the lateral position. The increase in pressure during the tilting to an angle of +30 degrees, and mostly to +50 degrees was less than the maximum pressure change during the exercises to which an immobilized patient with acute unstable fracture of the spine, was exposed daily, such as being turned, performing respiratory exercises and muscular training for the upper extremities. Provided fixation was secured with a belt, patients with unstable fractures of the thoracic and lumbar spine maybe treated with a "more active immobilization" tilting them in the bed even during the acute stage. Forward flexion exercises in the shoulder joints with hand weights produced a greater increase of the intradiscal pressure than did abduction exercises with the corresponding load. Spasticity produced a considerable increase in intradiscal pressure.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Early mobilization of patients with unstable fractures of the thoracic and lumbar spine. A 2-year follow-up study.

During the acute immobilization period 18 patients, with unstable fractures of the spine together with, in most cases, a spinal cord lesion, caudally of T2, were tilted in bed or on a tilting table. Twelve of these patients began the tilting already in the second week after the injury and reached +30 degrees on the 15th day, +50 degrees on the 37th day and +90 degrees on the 65th day following the injury. All patients were kept under observation at regular intervals up to 2 years. A comparison between similar patient groups, treated strictly conservatively, and the present patient groups did not show any differences either in respect to deformities in the spinal column, expected reduction in the spreading of the spinal cord lesions or in the subjective symptoms of the patients. In the hope of reducing the complications induced by protracted immobilization, the authors recommend that patients with unstable fractures of the spinal column, caudally of T2, with or without spinal cord lesion, begin a specified tilting program already in the second week following the injury.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Postural equilibrium in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Postural equilibrium has been quantified by stabilometry in 57 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis aged 10-16 years. Treatment was required in 39 cases whereof 18 were placed under observation only. The control group comprised 32 healthy children of the same age. An experimental design was made to vary the degree of difficulty of upright standing in four different test situations. The postural sway was analysed in the sagittal and lateral direction as well as in the area of total sway. The scoliotic patients had a significantly poorer postural control compared with the healthy children in all the tests. The difference was most pronounced in tests in which the proprioceptive functions were most important for maintaining the postural equilibrium. The left convex patients had quantitatively more pronounced reactions than the right convex patients. Patients with small curvatures, i.e., patients placed under observation only, had significantly increased postural sway compared with patients with more severe deformity. This fact, together with findings in patients with double primary curvatures, and the results of the study of brace effects, indirectly indicate the possibility of a postural disequilibrium as a contributory causative factor in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

The effect of impact loading on rabbit knee joints.

Eighteen mature male Whiteland rabbits received repetitive impulse loads slightly larger than body weight (4 kp) through one knee joint for periods from 1 to 6 weeks. Mechanical compression of subchondral bone cores from impacted tibiae showed progressive increased deformation under a constant force. Cartilage degeneration occurred concurrently with alterations in the mechanical properties of the subchondral bone. The cartilage degeneration may be explained by: (i) the deleterious effect of repetitive mechanical compression, (ii) the decreased mechanical support of the underlying subchondral bone.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Effectiveness of preoperative Cotrel traction for correction of idiopathic scoliosis.

Of 206 patients less than twenty years old with idiopathic scoliosis of 40 to 90 degrees treated with Harrington distraction rods and fusion, ninety had preoperative Cotrel traction and 116 received no immediate preoperative treatment. There was no significant difference between these two groups in terms of the immediate surgical correction obtained. Cotrel traction therefore did not improve the results of treatment of idiopathic scoliosis of this degree in this age group.

Adolescent↗