Chronic Pain
Historical Overview Pain Defined Pain is a subjective and entirely individually personal experience influenced by learning, context, and multiple psychosocial variables. Pain is not merely the end product of peripheral…
Vascular Diseases
The rehabilitation professional is often asked to evaluate the patient with a painful, swollen, or ulcerated limb. A thorough understanding of the pathophysiology, available diagnostic testing, and clinical evaluation help…
Degenerative Movement Disorders of the Central Nervous System
Neurodegenerative disorders, including movement disorders, are complex multisystem disorders characterized by abnormal protein aggregates that accumulate in select regions in the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems. Movement disorders are…
Acute Medical Conditions
Medical rehabilitation medicine needs to encompass the needs of patients with cardiopulmonary disorders as well as patients with debility and renal dysfunction. There are ever greater numbers of patients who…
Stroke Syndromes
* This chapter is adapted from Zorowitz RD: Infratentorial stroke syndromes and Harvey RL: Cerebral stroke syndromes. In Stein J, Harvey RL, Winstein CJ, et al, editors: Stroke recovery and rehabilitation…
Adult Neurogenic Communication and Swallowing Disorders
A wide range of communication and swallowing disorders result from neurologic injury. This chapter provides the physiatrist with a broad overview of some of the impairments that result from acquired…
Low Back Pain
Low back pain has become a costly burden to society and a leading cause of disability and loss of productivity. This chapter outlines the anatomy and biomechanics of the lumbar…
Myelomeningocele and Other Spinal Dysraphisms
Neural tube defects (NTDs) affect 0.5 to 2 per 1000 established pregnancies worldwide and are the second most common group of severely disabling birth defects, following congenital heart defects. Myelomeningocele…
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). It is the most common cause of nontraumatic disability in young adults. Approximately 400,000 individuals…
Motor Neuron Diseases
Definition A floppy infant, painless foot drop, and a paralyzed child are all potential manifestations of motor neuron disease (MND). Few diseases in medicine cause as much concern as these…
