Objective Nonspecific musculoskeletal pain can be difficult to manage in acute rehabilitation unit (ARU) patients. We investigated whether vitamin D status is a potential modifiable risk factor for nonspecific musculoskeletal pain in ARU patients. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study focused on 414 adults from an inpatient ARU in Mission Viejo, California, between July 2011 and June 2012. On ARU admission, all patients had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels measured and were assessed for nonspecific musculoskeletal pain. We performed multivariable logistic regression to test the association of serum 25(OH)D level with nonspecific musculoskeletal pain while adjusting for clinically relevant covariates. Results Among these 414 patients, mean (SD) 25(OH)D level was 29 (12) ng/mL, and 30% had nonspecific musculoskeletal pain. After adjustment for age, sex, race, body mass index, Functional Independence Measure score, Deyo-Charlson Comorbidity Index, fractures, steroid use, history of osteoporosis/osteomalacia, and patient type (orthopedic, cardiac, neurological, spinal cord injury, or traumatic brain injury), serum 25(OH)D level was inversely associated with nonspecific musculoskeletal pain (odds ratio [OR] per 10 ng/mL, 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48–0.82). When 25(OH)D level was dichotomized, patients with levels <20 ng/mL had higher odds of nonspecific musculoskeletal pain (OR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.23–4.17) compared with patients with levels ≥20 ng/mL. Conclusions In adult patients, serum 25(OH)D level on admission to ARU was inversely associated with nonspecific musculoskeletal pain. These data support the need for randomized, controlled trials to test the role of vitamin D supplementation to improve nonspecific musculoskeletal pain in ARU patients.

Conventional methods to treat urinary stress incontinence, including the Sling, Burch, and Pereyra modification methods, are limited by several shortcomings due to disrupted nerve and vaginal wall integrity. The nerve-sparing Burch-Sling method represents a surgical advancement through the use of a nerve-sparing sling to treat genuine stress urinary incontinence. The procedure involves retropubic urethropexy using the FDA-approved Burch-Sling device. In this technique, the vagina is elevated bilaterally at the urethrovesical junction to the mid-urethra toward Cooper's ligament above the base of the bladder. Then, the anterior vaginal wall and fascia are used as an endogenous suburethral sling without dissection. Two hundred twenty cases were included in this study; two hundred patients underwent the outpatient nerve-sparing sling method, and the other twenty underwent the novel abdominal Burch method. There were no major complications. The follow-up duration ranged from 6 months to eight years. All procedures were performed at the U.S. Women's Institute at a 400-bed hospital in Fountain Valley, CA.