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BACKGROUND: Intensive care physiotherapists are exposed to situations that may cause physical and mental overload, which can lead to the onset of work-related musculoskeletal complaints. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to analyze these complaints and to identify activities causing greater overload, factors associated with complaints, and management and prevention strategies. METHODS: Cross-sectional study. Data were collected from 125 physiotherapists in the Intensive Care units (ICU) of a tertiary hospital. The questionnaire used was formulated from questionnaires validated in the literature such as Nordic Questionnaire and Bork Questionnaire. Chi-square test was performed to compare the groups with and without complaints. Logistic regression was used to assess the association effects of the variables on the presence of complaints. RESULTS: Of those interviewed, 76% had a work-related complaint in the last year, with the "lower back" being the most affected region. Eighty percent had complaints for more than one site. "Transfer" was considered the activity causing the greatest overload. Female sex (p = 0.023), lack of physical activity (p = 0.028), inadequate ventilation (p = 0.001) and inadequate furniture (p = 0.006) showed a statistically significant association effect with the presence of complaints. Inadequate ventilation (p = 0.003) and female sex (p = 0.004) influenced the number of affected areas. Physical activity was considered the main strategy for prevention. CONCLUSION: Musculoskeletal complaints accounted for a high percentage of the analyzed sample, mainly in the lower back. The extent of complaints suggests that strategies should be developed and changes in work dynamics should be carried out.

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BACKGROUND: The application time of therapeutic ultrasound is an infrequently studied dosimetric variable that affects tissue repair. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different treatment times of therapeutic ultrasound (US) on the organization of collagen fibers in the tendons of rats. METHOD: Forty Wistar rats were selected (300±45 g), and the rats were divided into five groups (n=8 for each group): Control, without tenotomy or any treatment; tenotomy group, with tenotomy and without treatment; US groups (US1, US2, and US3), subjected to tenotomy and treated with US for one, two, or three minutes per area of the transducer, respectively. The animals were sacrificed on the 12th post-operative day, and the tendons were surgically removed for analyses of the collagen fiber organization by means of birefringence analysis. RESULTS: The collagen fibers exhibited better aggregation and organization in the US3 group compared with the tenotomy group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that US applied for three minutes per treated area improves the organization of collagen fibers during rat tendon repair.

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BACKGROUND: The application time of therapeutic ultrasound is an infrequently studied dosimetric variable that affects tissue repair. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different treatment times of therapeutic ultrasound (US) on the organization of collagen fibers in the tendons of rats. METHOD: Forty Wistar rats were selected (300±45 g), and the rats were divided into five groups (n=8 for each group): Control, without tenotomy or any treatment; tenotomy group, with tenotomy and without treatment; US groups (US1, US2, and US3), subjected to tenotomy and treated with US for one, two, or three minutes per area of the transducer, respectively. The animals were sacrificed on the 12th post-operative day, and the tendons were surgically removed for analyses of the collagen fiber organization by means of birefringence analysis. RESULTS: The collagen fibers exhibited better aggregation and organization in the US3 group compared with the tenotomy group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that US applied for three minutes per treated area improves the organization of collagen fibers during rat tendon repair. .

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OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether handedness influences bilateral shoulder range of motion in nonathlete adult women. METHODS: This was an observational study. Shoulder range of motion (flexion, abduction, horizontal adduction, extension, external and internal rotation) was passively and bilaterally measured in 50 female, right-handed, and healthy university students, ranging from 20 to 29 years of age, who were not practicing repetitive activities with the upper limbs at the time of this study. The assessment was performed with a universal goniometer, twice for each subject by the same examiner. The first and second measurements were correlated using the intraclass correlation coefficient, which was high for all movements and ranged from 0.80 to 0.97. The Student t test and Wilcoxon test were used to compare the range of motion between the dominant and nondominant shoulders and the mean differences between the 2 sides. The effect of size was alpha = .05. RESULTS: There is statistically significance difference between the 2 sides when the rotational range of motion is compared; the dominant shoulder presented increased external rotation (mean, 4.74 degrees ; 95% confidence interval, 1.61-7.87) and decreased internal rotation (mean, 3.52 degrees ; 95% confidence interval, 1.64-5.4) compared to the opposite shoulder. CONCLUSION: Dominance should be considered when shoulder rotation is evaluated even in nonathlete adult women.

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This study aimed at verifying the effects of phonophoresis associated with Arnica montana on the acute phase of an inflammatory muscle lesion. Forty Wistar male rats (300+/-50 g), of which the Tibialis Anterior muscle was surgically lesioned, were divided into four groups (n=10 each): control group received no treatment; the ultrasound group (US) was treated in pulsed mode with 1-MHz frequency, 0.5 W/cm(2) intensity (spatial and temporal average - SATA), duty cycle of 1:2 (2 ms on, 4 ms off, 50%), time of application 3 min per session, one session per day, for 3 days; the phonophoresis or ultrasound plus arnica (US+A) group was treated with arnica with the same US parameters plus arnica gel; and the arnica group (A) was submitted to massage with arnica gel, also for 3 min, once a day, for 3 days. Treatment started 24h after the surgical lesion. On the 4th day after lesion creation, animals were sacrificed and sections of the lesioned, inflamed muscle were removed for quantitative (mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cell count) and qualitative histological analysis. Collected data from the 4 groups were statistically analyzed and the significance level set at p<0.05. Results show higher mononuclear cell density in all three treated groups with no significant difference between them, but values were significantly different (p<0.0001) when compared to control group's. As to polymorphonuclear cell density, significant differences were found between control group (p=0.0134) and US, US+A and A groups; the arnica group presented lesser density of polymorphonuclear cells when compared (p=0.0134) to the other groups. No significant difference was found between US and US+A groups. While the massage with arnica gel proved to be an effective anti-inflammatory on acute muscle lesion in topic use, these results point to ineffectiveness of Arnica montana phonophoresis, US having seemingly checked or minimized its anti-inflammatory effect.

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O ultra-som terapêutico é uma modalidade muito utilizada pela fisioterapia no tratamento de diversas condições clínicas. Entretanto, apesar dos diversos efeitos terapêuticos, a utilização deste recurso em algumas estruturas ou condições comumente encontradas na prática clínica da fisioterapia ainda gera polêmica e discussão entre os profissionais, como por exemplo, na presença de implantes metálicos. O objetivo deste artigo foi revisar os principais estudos experimentais publicados acerca desse assunto e relatar as conclusões obtidas por cada um deles. A revisão dos trabalhos permitiu concluir que a presença de implantes metálicos não é fator limitante para a utilização do ultra-som terapêutico.

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