Rehabilitation is important for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Given the lack of guidelines in English on the rehabilitation of these patients, we conducted a review of the most recent reports. We performed this literature review using the principal research databases and included randomized trials, recommendations, quasi-randomized or prospective controlled clinical trials, reports, guidelines, field updates, and letters to the editor. We identified 107 studies in the database search, among which 85 were excluded after screening the full text or abstract. In total, 22 studies were finally included. The complexity of the clinical setting and the speed of spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which leads to rapid occupation of beds in the intensive care unit, make it necessary to discharge patients with COVID-19 who have mild symptoms as soon as possible. For these reasons, it is necessary to formulate rehabilitation programs for these patients, to help them restore physical and respiratory function and to reduce anxiety and depression, particularly patients with comorbidities and those who live alone or in rural settings, to restore a good quality of life.

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Context: Activation time of the quadriceps is important in determining injury risk in professional soccer players. Objective: To compare the activation time of the quadriceps and hamstrings muscles during a movement that puts stress on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to assess the risk of ACL injury. Design: Case series. Setting: University laboratory for movement analysis. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty (10 males and 10 females) professional soccer players. Intervention(s): An inertial sensor and 4 electrodes positioned on the quadriceps and hamstrings muscles were used for the surface electromyography. The athlete resting on 1 leg dropped, from a 32-cm-high platform, on the suspended foot (testing leg), without jumping or lowering his center of gravity and maintaining single-leg landing for 5 seconds. Using a software, it is possible to calculate the activation time of the rectus femoris, vastus medialis (VM), biceps femoris, and semimembranosus muscles before ground contact. Main Outcome Measures: To evaluate the activation times of the rectus femoris, VM, biceps femoris, and semitendinosus muscles before ground contact in comparison with the range of normality calculated by the manufacturer. Results: All male soccer players demonstrated a low risk related to the correct activation of all the examined muscles, while female soccer players demonstrated delayed activation of the VM. Conclusions: Delayed activation of the VM registered in females determines an increase in anterior shear force, which is an important risk factor for incurring an ACL injury. This testing protocol becomes adequate for the screening of high-risk athletes and for targeting interventions to specific imbalances that may increase injury risk.

Background: Unrecovered Bell palsy is difficult to treat, because until now in literature there is not a gold standard. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and shortwave diathermy (SWD) therapy for chronic Bell palsy. Methods: After 5 months of conventional therapy, this 2-arm randomized controlled trial enrolled and randomly allocated 20 patients to a treatment group with NMES+SWD and supervised exercises (n = 10) or a sham group with supervised exercise alone (n = 10). The administration of NMES or sham NMES, as intervention, was performed 30 min/session, 5 sessions/wk, for 4 weeks. The primary outcome was assessed by Sunnybrook scale. The secondary outcomes were evaluated by the Kinovea©, a movement analysis software. All primary and secondary outcomes were measured at baseline (T0), at the end of 4-week treatment (T1). Results: At the end of 4-week treatment, the patients in the treatment group did not achieve better outcomes in resting symmetry, but we observed an increase of the perceived a significant improvement (P < .05) for symmetry of voluntary movements by the Sunnybrook subscale, with a score of 55.4 ± 9 compared to 46.4 ± 3.7 to control group and an increase in zygomatic muscle movement symmetry ratio (P < .05) by Kinovea©. No adverse events occurred in either group. Conclusion: The improvements in the symmetry of voluntary movements demonstrated that combining diathermy with neuromuscular electrostimulation is valid and reliable in the treatment of chronic Bell palsy.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are primarily characterized by pain as well as issues concerning the proper functioning of individual elements of the stomatognathic system. The aim of the study was to assess the safety and efficacy of physical exercise, with or without radial Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (rESWT), in patients with TMD. Eligible patients were adults (≥18 years) with diagnosed myofascial pain with or without mouth opening limitation (Group Ia, Ib) based on the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD). Enrolled patients (n = 15) were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive physical exercise combined with rESWT (n = 8) or sham rESWT (n = 7) for four weeks. The primary endpoint was the pain intensity measured by a visual analogue scale (VAS). The secondary endpoints were muscle activity and function assessed through the surface electromyography evaluation of the anterior temporalis and the masseter muscles. The rESWT group (mean age: 28.50 ± 8.85 years) showed a statistically significant pain reduction (VAS Right side: ΔT0-T1 MD = −3.00; p = 0.023, Left side: ΔT0-T1, MD = 3.57, p = 0.021), whereas patients in the sham WBV group (mean age: 30.71 ± 8.98 years), did not reach statistical significance (VAS: Right side: ΔT0-T1 MD = 1.00, p = 0.155; Left side: ΔT0-T1 MD = 1.25 SE = 0.25, p = 0.094). Concurrently, muscle activity and performance significantly improved in the active rESWT group, with an improvement in the percentage of the overlapping coefficient (POC) compared to the control group. No dropouts and no side effects were recorded. Taken together, the findings of this pilot RCT suggested that rESWT combined with physical therapy could be effective in relieving pain and improving function in muscle-related TMD patients.