DBAJ highlights role of physiotherapy during 2nd Physiotherapy Conference

The DBAJ specialists that addressed the conference included Dr. William D Murrell, Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, Dr. Zbiggy Brodzinsky, Consultant Orthopedic Spinal Surgeon and Mr. Rashid Buhari, Senior Physiotherapist. A special guest at the conference was Ms. Patti Rempel a specialist pediatric physiotherapist with 23 years of Canadian and International experience primarily in neonatal care. The conference was well attended by diversified specialties from the health care industry mainly involving the orthopedic surgeons, GP's, Physiotherapists, rheumatologists and neuro specialists among others.

Dr. William D Murrell, Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon, Dubai Bone & Joint Center said in his presentation on 'Sports Medicine on Shoulder Instability', "Anatomic surgical repair can be achieved by a variety of methods with good results. 90-98% of Open Bankart Reconstruction surgeries and 84-97% of Arthroscopic Bankart Reconstruction surgeries are successful. But the risk of recurrent instability following Arthroscopic Bankart Reconstruction is relatively higher as compared to the open surgical method with the main reasons being significant bone loss in the glenoid and humerus and hyperlaxity. The bone is very important and any bone insufficiencies should be addressed immediately."

Mr. Rashid Buhari, Senior Physiotherapist, Dubai Bone & Joint Center shared his experiences in dealing with rehabilitation of shoulder injuries and stressed on sports specific prehabilitation to help prevent injury by training the joints and muscles that are most susceptible to injury in an activity. Speaking about dysfunction of postural muscles Mr. Buhari said, "It affects all age groups with an annual incidence of approximately 7% and is often combined with other musculoskeletal disorders. The spontaneity of recovery is poor which also adds to the medical expenses."

Stating his finding about sports related injury patients, Mr. Buhari added:

"A common factor witnessed is the patients' poor posture while the most common symptoms are decreased thoracic extension, increased laxity of shoulder joints, poor flexibility of hamstrings, hip flexors, calves and lumbar spine, reduced movement control and high incidence of previous injury."

In his presentation on 'The Lumbar Artificial Disc - Is it still Future?' Dr. Zbigniew Brodzinsky, Consultant Orthopedic Spinal Surgeon said, "The main aim of physiotherapy is relieving pain, preservation of range of motion, segmental stabilization and replication of the natural function of the disc. The influence of different designs, different biomechanics, different interfaces and different anchoring mechanisms on clinical outcome is still unclear and hence choosing between the stability that lumbar spinal fusion provides and the motion that lumbar artificial disc replacement provides is a very important decision. The most important advantage of Total Disc Replacement (TDR) is that the disc prosthesis can be removed and reinserted in order to position it correct at the time of surgery."

Offering a few tips on surgical techniques Dr. Brodzinsky added, "Do not implant the disc to the final depth to make correction of midline possible if required and to prevent posterior rim fracture.

The DBAJ 2nd Physiotherapy Conference also stressed on the value of Physiotherapy in a multidisciplinary team approach as it contributes to overall reduction of health care costs by facilitating the reduction of hospitalization, contributing to an early discharge, return to supported or independent home living, return to work or prevention of secondary disability. Unlike lifesaving interventions, Physiotherapy has a much lower profile but focuses on improving the quality of life, mobility and function, and level of disability which are the key issues once lives are saved.