Background: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of using Kinesio Taping® (KT) on anastomotic regions along with complex decongestive physiotherapy (CDP) in patients with breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). Methods and Results: Patients with unilateral BCRL were divided into two groups in this randomized controlled study: Group 1 (CDP, n = 14) and Group 2 (CDP+ KT, n = 18). Assessment of limb size was quantified by using circumferential limb measurements and then calculated for each segment by using the frustum formula. CDP included manual lymphatic drainage, compression bandages, exercises, and skin care. KT was applied to lymphatic anastomosis. All patients received treatment for 1 hour per day, 5 days per week for 4 weeks. The outcome measure was difference in the reduction of limb volumes between the groups. There was a significant difference in both groups before and after treatment (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding changes in limb volume (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest that applying KT to lymphatic anastomotic regions is not effective in reducing limb volume in the management of BCRL.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the impact of change in limb volume on the levels of functional mobility, health-related quality of life, social appearance anxiety, and depression before and after complex decongestive physiotherapy in patients with lower extremity lymphedema. Method: Twenty-seven patients with unilateral lower extremity lymphedema were included. The treatment period was 20 sessions. The outcome measures were the limb volume, the Timed Up and Go test, the Short Form-36, the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Results: A statistically significant decrease in the limb volume ( p < 0.001) and statistically significant improvements in the Timed Up and Go test performance ( p < 0.001), the Short Form-36 Physical Component Summary score ( p < 0.01), the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale score ( p < 0.001), and the Beck Depression Inventory score ( p < 0.001) were found. No statistically significant difference was found on the Short Form-36 Mental Component Summary score ( p > 0.05). Conclusion: The decrease in the limb volume improves the functional mobility, physical health-related quality of life, social appearance anxiety, and depression in patients with lower extremity lymphedema, but not the mental health-related quality of life.

Objective: To assess the intra- and inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity, and to estimate minimal detectable change of a smartphone application for measuring thoracic kyphosis angle. Methods: A total of 80 healthy university students were evaluated. Two raters measured the thoracic kyphosis angle using a digital inclinometer and the smartphone application. Intra- and inter-rater reliability were assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) with 95% confidence interval. The standard error of measurement (SEM) and the minimal detectable change at the 95% confidence level (MDC95) were also calculated. The concurrent validity between the digital inclinometer and the smartphone application was assessed by the linear regression analysis and Bland and Altman's 95% limits of agreement method. Results: The intra- and inter-rater reliability were excellent for the digital inclinometer and the smartphone application (ICC > 0.75). The SEM values for the digital inclinometer and the smartphone application were close together. The MDC95 values for the smartphone application were 5.11 and 6.30 degrees, and 9.02 degrees for intra- and inter-rater, respectively. The digital inclinometer and the smartphone application showed a positive correlation (R2 = 0.85). The Bland-Altman plot showed a good agreement between the instruments. Conclusion: The smartphone application used in this study is a cost-effective, practical, reliable, and valid instrument for measuring the thoracic kyphosis angle. More than 9 degrees in the value of the thoracic kyphosis angle measured by the smartphone application can be considered as a true change.

Several classification systems are used to grade the severity of lymphedema. Their agreement with each other has not been reported.To evaluate the agreement between the American Physical Therapy As...

Amaç: Karpal Tünel Sendromu (KTS) elde duyusal ve motor kayıplar ile ortaya çıkan bir tuzak nöropatisidir. KTS ile hastaların azalan kas kuvvetleri ve enduransları fonksiyonel aktivitelerde yetersizliklere neden olabilir. Bu çalışma KTS’li hastalarda kas kuvvet ve enduransının üst ekstremite fonksiyonelliği üzerine olan etkisini araştırmak amacı ile planlandı. Yöntem: Çalışmaya KTS tanısı alan 45 hasta (yaş ortalaması 49.44±9.04 yıl) dâhil edildi. KTS’li hastaların üst ekstremite kas enduransı, desteksiz kol testi (1. ve 2. diagonal paternde) ile, üst ekstremite kas kuvveti Hand Held Dinamometre ile, kavrama kuvvetleri hand dinamometre, parmak kavrama kuvveti digital pinçmetre ile, üst ekstremite fonksiyonelliğini değerlendirmek için ise DASH (Kol, Omuz ve El Yaralanmaları Anketi) kullanıldı. Sonuçlar: Hastaların DASH skorları ile üst ekstremite omuz fleksör, ekstansör, abduktör, eksternal rotatör, dirsek fleksör-ekstansör, el bileği ekstansör ve tüm pinch kuvvetleri arasında negatif yönde anlamlı ilişki olduğu belirlendi (p<0,05). Hastaların DASH skorları ile üst ekstremite desteksiz kol testi (1. ve 2. diagonal paternde) sonuçları arasında negatif yönde anlamlı ilişki olduğu bulundu (p<0,05). Tartışma: Karpal tünel sendromlu hastalarda özellikle azalmış kassal endurans ve kassal kuvvet üst ekstremite fonksiyonlarında azalmalara neden olmaktadır. Karpal tünel sendromlu hastalarda ağrı ve benzeri semptomlar ile azalan üst ekstremite fonksiyonelliğini arttırmak için kassal kuvvetin yanısıra uzun dönemde kassal endurans egzersizlerinin de fizyoterapi programlarına dahil edilmesi gerektiğini düşünmekteyiz. Anahtar sözcükler: Lateral epikondilit, dirsek, kuvvet, endurans, fonksiyon