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Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background and Aims: The purposes of this study are to determine the frequency of upper extremity overuse syndromes in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) using manual wheelchairs, to evaluate them clinically and sonographically, and to reveal possible factors that predispose to overuse syndromes.

Materials and methods: A total of 38 traumatic SCI patients who were over 18 years of age and manual wheelchair users were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The patients were evaluated with clinical and sonographic findings of the wrist, elbow and shoulder joints. Functional capacity, physical ability and symptoms of upper extremity, and quality of life were assessed with Functional Independence Measure, the short form of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionnaire, and the 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) Health Survey, respectively.

Results: While the shoulder joint constituted the majority of the joint pain detected in 23 of the patients, bursitis was the most common sonographic pathology. As a result of clinical and sonographic evaluations, it was determined that 29 patients had overuse syndrome. The likelihood of developing overuse syndromes increased with longer daily wheelchair use (OR=1.666, p=0.048) and high lesion level (OR=12.01, p=0.052). It decreased with the SF-36 pain score (OR=0.943, p=0.027).

Conclusion: Shoulder joint was the most commonly affected area for pain symptom, sonographic findings, and overuse syndrome. Prolonged daily wheelchair use time, lesions at the thoracic level, and increased pain levels in quality of life score might be the determinants of the development of upper extremity overuse syndromes in paraplegic wheelchair users.

Ethical considerationsThe study was approved by the local ethics committee of a medical centre with the number of E2-21-931 and all subjects provided written informed consent prior to enrollment.

Author ORCID Identifier

KUTAY TEZEL: 0000-0001-9106-1973

ESRA ÜLGEN KIRATLIOĞLU: 0000-0002-8606-0041

HÜSEYİN KAYADİBİ: 0000-0002-3922-4517

İLKAY KARABAY: 0000-0001-7723-5009

MİTAT CEBECİ: 0000-0002-4603-7867

EDA GÜRÇAY: 0000-0002-0118-6527

DOI

10.55730/1300-0144.6045

Keywords

overuse syndrome, Spinal cord injury, ultrasound, wheelchair

First Page

920

Last Page

929

Publisher

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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