BACKGROUND Stroke is becoming more common in Germany as the population ages. Its long-term sequelae can be alleviated by early reperfusion in stroke units and by complication management and functional restoration in early-rehabilitation and rehabilitation centers. METHODS Selective review of the literature. RESULTS Successful rehabilitation depends on systematic treatment by an interdiscipl...

The Cleveland Clinic institutional guidelines for the management of intestinal failure, including long-term or home parenteral nutrition and related complications, intestinal rehabilitation, and small bowel transplantation, were reviewed. PubMed was searched for relevant articles. The search was performed in November 2008; keywords used were home parenteral nutrition, short bowel syndrome, inte...

This is a longitudinal validation study that is Part II of a two-part series. Part I focuses on the methods used to construct the neurobehavioral measure derived from the Disorders of Consciousness Scale (DOCS) as well as the evidence of reliability and validity. Part II illustrates, through a series of selected case reports, the clinical use of repeated DOCS measures to enhance and complement ...

With hip fracture and dementia increasing in incidence in the global ageing population, there is a need for the development of specific procedures targeting optimal treatment outcomes for these patients. This paper looks primarily at the factors that limit access to subacute rehabilitation services as a growing body of evidence suggests that access to timely inpatient rehabilitation increases f...

The main messages contained within this review are firstly that any advance in the management of patients with neurological disability must come from improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying that disability and secondly that the only way to demonstrate real benefit is by a process of evaluation which must incorporate appropriate measuring tools. In other words, to emphasise the cruci...

Century. However, it was Silas Weir Mitchell, a Neurologist who first used the term ‘phantom’ in fiction rather than in scientific literature in 1871. Lord Nelson is reputed to have said that his phantom was a direct proof of the existence of the soul. If an arm can survive physical annihilation, why not the entire person? With recent scientific developments, Neuro-physiologists and Neuro-psych...

Although agents that have a partial benefit on relapses in multiple sclerosis (MS) are available, there is little to suggest that we are able to influence disease progression in any meaningful way—thus the need to manage the accumulating impairments and disability that accompany progression actively. Attempting to evaluate and treat the wide range of fluctuating and interacting symptoms associa...

BACKGROUND Pain following hip fracture and internal fixation is a major factor during the treatment of elderly patients on rehabilitation programs. A proactive pain management program was instituted in our geriatric rehabilitation ward in 2005. OBJECTIVES To compare retrospectively two groups of patients, one before and one after implementation of the proactive pain management program. METH...

I LTOT = long-term oxygen therapy ecent years have marked considerable progress in the field of pulmonary rehabilitation. t Empiric approaches are being eroded with the growmg recognition of the need for greater interdisciplinary coinmunication between respiratory physiologists, clinical pulmonologists, psychologists, respiratory therapists, and other related health care professionals. This ont...

Spasticity refers to an abnormal, velocity-dependent (i.e., how fast the joint is moved through its range) increase in muscle tone resulting from interruption of the neural circuitry regulating the muscles and is a common complication of cerebral palsy, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis and stroke. The muscle stretch reflex is thought to play an important role in spastici...