Persistent Benefits Of Rehabilitation On Pain And Life Quality For Non-ambulatory Patients With Spinal Epidural Metastasis

Main Category: Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy
Also Included In: Pain / Anesthetics
Article Date: 01 Jun 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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We evaluated the long-term effects of a 2-week course of rehabilitation on people with paraplegia caused by cancer compressing the spinal cord. Twelve patients received rehabilitation that focused on transfers, skin care, bladder and bowel management, nutrition, and incentive spirometry. We compared these study patients with a historical control group of 30 patients who had paraplegia from cancer but did not receive rehabilitation. Subjects were followed until death. The study patients had less pain and depression and more satisfaction with life; these benefits persisted for the remainder of their lives. In contrast, the control patients had worsening pain levels, declining satisfaction with life, and higher pain medication use for the remainder of their lives. While our study suggests that rehabilitation benefits people with cancer-related spinal cord injury, it needs to be supported by a randomized study.

The Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD) has been a leading research journal in the field of rehabilitation medicine and technology for over 40 years. Formerly the Bulletin of Prosthetics Research, JRRD debuted in 1983 to include cross-disciplinary findings in rehabilitation. JRRD, a scientifically indexed journal, publishes original research papers, review articles, as well as clinical and technical commentary from U.S. and international researchers on all rehabilitation research disciplines.

JRRD publishes in both print and electronic formats, increasing the journal's dissemination from a hard copy circulation of 8,000 to 2.3 million Web downloads in 2005. Currently, there are over 1,000 peer-reviewed articles available in electronic format and free for downloading. JRRD will initiate an archiving program in 2005 to make all issues of JRRD and the Bulletin of Prosthetics Research available online.

Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development
Now Available Online and in Print: www.rehab.research.va.gov

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