The increase of elderly in our society requires simple tools for quantification of sarcopenia in inpatient and outpatient settings. The aim of this study was to compare parameters determined with musculoskeletal ultrasound (M-US) with muscle strength in young and elderly patients. In this prospective, randomised and observer blind study, 26 young (24.2 ± 3.7 years) and 26 old (age 67.8 ± 4.8 years) patients were included. Muscle thickness, pennation angle and echogenicity of all muscles of musculus quadriceps were measured by M-US and correlated with isometric maximum voluntary contraction force (MVC) of musculus quadriceps. Reproducibility of M-US measurements as well as simple and multiple regression models were calculated. Of all measured M-US variables the highest reproducibility was found for measurements of thickness (intraclass correlation coefficients, 85-97%). Simple regression analysis showed a highly significant correlation of thickness measurements of all muscles of musculus quadriceps with MVC in the elderly and in the young. Multiple regression analysis revealed that thickness of musculus vastus medialis had the best correlation with MVC in the elderly. This study showed that measurement of muscle thickness, especially of musculus vastus medialis, by M-US is a reliable, bedside method for monitoring the extent of sarcopenia.

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Purpose: Low back and/or pelvic girdle pain is common during pregnancy and may persist after delivery. Therapeutic methods to alleviate pain, with no side effects for mother and child, are of high clinical importance. The consensus statement expresses the position of the Working Group on Evidence-Based Medicine in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, the Austrian Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Austrian Pain Society, for the treatment of low back and/or pelvic girdle pain by transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) during pregnancy. Materials and Methods: The literature was reviewed followed by a subsequent interdisciplinary discussion. Results: Diagnostic investigations, therapeutic options, mode of application as well as efficacy and side effects of the method are presented. Conclusion: TENS is a safe therapy for low back and/or pelvic girdle pain in the last trimester of pregnancy with no side effects, low costs and the possibility of home application.

Evidence Based Medicine in Physical Medicine and RehabilitationIn the last twenty years the term "Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)" has been increasingly applied in all areas of medicine and is often used for decision-making in the medical and public health sector. It is also used to verify the significance and/or the effectiveness of different therapies. The original definition of EBM rests on the following three pillars: the physician's individual expertise, the patient's needs and the best external evidence. Today, however, the term EBM is often wrongly used as a synonym for best external evidence, without taking into consideration the other two pillars of the model which was created by Gordon Guyatt, David Sackett and Archibald Cochrane. This problem becomes even greater the more social insurance institutions and politicians use external evidence alone as the main guideline for financing therapies and therapy guidelines in physical medicine and general rehabilitation without taking into account the physician's expertise and the patient's needs.The wrong interpretation of EBM can lead to the following problems: well established clinical therapies are either questioned or not granted and are therefore withheld from patients (for example physical pain management). An absence of evidence for individual therapy methods does not prove their ineffectiveness! In this short statement the significance of EBM in Physical Medicine and general rehabilitation will be analysed and discussed.

Evidence Based Medicine in Physical Medicine and RehabilitationIn the last twenty years the term "Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)" has spread into all areas of medicine and is often used for decision-making in the medical and public health sector. It is also used to verify the significance and/or the effectiveness of different therapies. The definition of EBM is to use the physician's individual expertise, the patient's needs and the best external evidence for each individual patient. Today, however, the term EBM is often wrongly used as a synonym for best "external evidence". This leads not only to a misuse of evidence based medicine but suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of the model which was created by Gordon Guyatt, David Sackett and Archibald Cochrane. This problem becomes even greater the more social insurance institutions, public healthcare providers and politicians use external evidence alone as a main guideline for financing therapies in physical medicine and general rehabilitation without taking into account the physician's expertise and the patient's needs.The wrong interpretation of EBM can lead to the following problems: well established clinical therapies are either questioned or not granted and are therefore withheld from patients (for example physical pain management). Absence of evidence for individual therapy methods does not prove their ineffectiveness! In this short statement the significance of EBM in physical medicine and general rehabilitation will be analysed and discussed.