Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, may result in musculoskeletal tissue injury and is assumingly regulated through central and peripheral pathways. Muscle-specific creatinine kinase (CK-MM) is a specific biomarker used to indicate the presence of musculoskeletal tissue damage. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the levels of CK-MM and the incidence of persistent myalgia in patients with post-COVID-19 syndromes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among COVID-19 survivors at the Faculty of Medicine and Clinical Pathology Laboratory, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya from June - August 2022. The degree of pain of the myalgia was assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS), while CK-MM level was measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Pearson correlation test at α=0.05 was used to identify the correlation between the levels of CK-MM and the incidence of persistent myalgia in patients with post-COVID-19 syndromes. Results: A total of 84 participants were enrolled in the study and half (50%) of them reported persistent myalgia post-COVID-19 recovery. Fatigue was the patients' most common persistent symptom (63%). Of the total 42 patients with persistent myalgia, more than half (56%) had mild pain intensity (VAS score: 1–3), and almost all of them (41 patients) experienced myalgia during the COVID-19 diagnosis. All the patients with post-COVID-19 myalgia had normal levels of CK-MM (mean: 32.7 ng/mL; range: 12–93 ng/mL), suggesting no musculoskeletal tissue damage. Anova test suggested no significant different of CK-MM levels between those with and without myalgia in patients with post-COVID-19 syndromes p=0.054). Conclusion: There was no significant association between CK-MM levels and the incidence of persistent myalgia in patients with post-COVID-19 syndromes.

Introduction: Recognition of conus medullaris position, contains lumbosacral plexuses which supply motor and sensory innervation to the whole lower limb, pelvic and perineal areas, is critical to avoid injury due to lumbar procedures, such as spinal anesthesia and lumbar punctures. This study aimed to investigate the position of conus medullaris among Indonesians through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine at Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital in order to minimize the risk of conus medullaris trauma. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the conus medullaris level and its correlation to gender and age Indonesian patients. The data were collected from lumbar MRI at Dr Soetomo General Academic Hospital during January 2020 and December 2021. The level variations of conus medullaris were recorded and determined as the highest, lowest and most common location descriptively. Results: A total of 257 patients (126 male and 131 female) were included. The highest level of conus medullaris was in T11-T12 vertebrae (five patients). There were 12 patients in T12 vertebrae, T12–L1 in 86 patients, L1 in 62 patients, L1–L2 in 76 patients, and L2 in 12 patients. The lowest level was in between L2 and L3 vertebrae in 4 patients. Gender and age had no association with conus medullaris level. Conclusion: The lowest level of conus medullaris was in between L2 and L3 vertebrae. The lumbar procedure such as punctures should be done below the L3 to avoid conus medullaris puncture trauma.