Stress fracture of the sternum is a rare condition which presents as acute anterior chest pain after repetitive upper-body exercise. Two case reports are presented and it is postulated that this is an often underdiagnosed condition which should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute chest pain in the athlete. Awareness of the injury together with meticulous clinical examination supported by good quality radiographs or isotope bone scan may lead to an increase in the diagnosis of this injury.

Acute Disease↗

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The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: a new tool for understanding disability and health.

Reliable and timely information about the health of populations is part of the World Health Organization's mandate in the development of international public health policy. To capture data concerning functioning and disability, or non-fatal health outcomes, WHO has recently published the revised International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In this article, the authors briefly outline the revision process and discuss the rationale for the ICF and the needs that it serves in rehabilitation. The ICF is shown to be an essential tool for identifying and measuring efficacy and effectiveness of rehabilitation services, both through functional profiling and intervention targeting. Existing applications of the ICF in rehabilitation are then surveyed. The ICF, in short, offers an international, scientific tool for understanding human functioning and disability for clinical, research, policy development and a range of other public health uses.

Activities of Daily Living↗

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Diazepam and succinylcholine-induced muscle pains.

Postoperative muscle pains occurred in 16% of 25 patients given 10 mg diazepam IV 5 minutes prior to succinylcholine. Postoperative muscle pains occurred in 60% of 25 patients not given diazepam before succinylcholine. The difference is statistically significant. Diazepam reduced the severity and duration of postoperative muscle pains, as well as their frequency.

Adolescent↗

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[Applicability of the ICF in measuring functioning and disability in unipolar depression in Primary Care settings].

INTRODUCTION: We use the biopsychosocial model of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF): a) to analyze functioning and disability patterns in unipolar depression cases attended in primary care settings; b) to study predictive and mediator variables related to disability in depression, and c) to determine the impact of traditional interventions in depression cases using functional remission as outcome measure. DESIGN: Naturalistic, prospective, longitudinal. SETTING: Multicenter study in primary care. Health Area 2. Region of Madrid. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients with a diagnosis of unipolar depression who initiate psychopharmacological treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) in primary care sites. Patients with history of bipolar disorders, psychotic disorders, dementias, and dependence of toxic substances will be excluded. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Level of functioning and disability in different domains of well-being assessed through ICF related instruments. Stressful life events, social support and cognitive schemes will be analyzed as mediator variables. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, psychopharmacological treatment and treatment compliance are considered independent factors. DISCUSSION AND PRACTICAL USE: Selection bias may affect the generalization of the results. The biopsychosocial model underlying the ICF and its methodology are applied to the study of depression in primary care settings for the first time in Spain. Improving our understanding of disability related factors in depressive patients is expected. This study is one of the main research priorities of the EU (MHADIE project).

Adult↗

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Intravenous lignocaine for prevention of muscle pain after succinylcholine.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adolescent↗