This paper reports results of combined rehabilitative treatment of patients with gonarthrosis and coxarthrosis by hyperbaric gaseous cryotherapy. Evaluation of outcomes of the treatment using international Lequesne, WOMAC, and Likert indices provided a basis for the identification of predictors of responsiveness to hyperbaric gaseous cryotherapy. It was shown that this method allows the effectiveness of the rehabilitative treatment of patients with osteoarthrosis of large joints to be improved by 33%.

The present work was devoted to the assessment of application of polychromatic non-coherent polarized light for the treatment of children aged from 1 to 15 years with various traumatic lesions. It was shown that inclusion of bioptron in the combined treatment produced beneficial effect apparent as the improvement of general condition due to alleviation of pain syndrome, faster elimination of oedema of the affected tissue, pronounced muscular relaxation, improvement of sleep and psycho-emotional status of the patients. It is concluded that the use of bioptron during combined therapy of traumatic lesions in children significantly reduces duration of the rehabilitation period which testifies to high clinical efficiency of the proposed strategy.

A total of 54 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) were enrolled in this study. The group included 25 (46.29%) women and 29 men (53.71%) at the age from 48 to 69 years. The patients were examined by a variety of methods including both clinical procedures (clinical analysis of blood and urine, ECG) and special ones (characteristic of carbohydrate metabolism, measurement of glycated hemoglobin level, rheovasography (RVG), determonation of body mass index (BMI), etc.). Combined treatment included phototherapy and application of sinusoidal modulated currents. Results of the study give evidence that supplementation of standard treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus with physiotherapeutic and phototherapeutic procedures significantly improves not only parameters of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism but also arterial pressure, reduces the body weight, and has positive effect on diabetic angiopathy due to normalization of vascular function in the lower extremities.

The objective of the present study was to develop the strategy of physiobalneotherapy for the rehabilitative treatment of patients presenting with tension-type headache (TTH). A total of 72 patients with verified diagnosis of TTH were examined. A combined therapeutic modality was developed including transcranial electrostimulation, iodine-bromine baths, manual massage of the collar zone and head, and therapeutic exercises programmed on an individual basis. Analysis of clinical and functional condition of the patients showed that the above treatment induces activation of the pain-relieving system, reduces severity of sensor dysfunction, normalizes hemodynamics in cerebral vessels, and exerts antiradical effect. Clinical efficiency of the proposed therapeutic strategy is estimated at 87%.

A total of 66 patients presenting with psoriasis were hospitalized for intravenous irradiation of the blood and allocated to two representative groups. Patients of group 1 (n = 39) were subjected to intravenous laser treatment of the blood (IVLTB), in group 2 (n = 27) they were managed using PUVA therapy. Comparative analysis revealed regression of the symptoms of psoriasis in both groups. IVLTB decreased pruritus after the fourth, oedema and skin exfoliation after the sixth sessions. PUVA-therapy produced similar effects after 8-10 and 14 procedures respectively. Moreover, PUVA-therapy accelerated elimination of psoriatic plaques (their size significantly decreased by the 14th procedure and practically disappeared by the 20th one) whereas IVLTB caused reduction of infiltration signs in all patients. Worthy of note is much more pronounced beneficial effect of IVLTB on the enhanced activity of indicator enzymes (AST and ALT), elevated glucose and total cholesterol levels compared with the action of PUVA-therapy. These effects were practically absent in patients showing normal values of these parameters. Investigation of skin microcirculation by laser Doppler flowmetry demonstrated substantial improvement of microhemodynamic characteristics in patients of group 1. Also, they showed significantly higher remission indices (19.4 months versus 13.5 months in the control group). It should be emphasized that relapses following IVLTB were milder and of more local character than after PUVA-therapy. Moreover, they were easier to correct by pharmacotherapy. Taken together, these observations may be useful for the development of a pathogenetically substantiated therapeutic strategy and the reduction of adverse effects of drug therapy used to treat psoriasis.

The authors report results of analysis of erosive and ulcerative pathology of upper segments of the gastrointestinal tract and their treatment in 78 patients during their preparation for surgical correction of cardiovascular pathology. Patients of the study group (n = 40) underwent a course of optimized infrared laserotherapy combined with biospectrophotometry making possible the detection of the optimal site for application of radiation and the calculation of the time of exposure by a relevant formula. Patients of the control group (n = 38) were treated by infrared laserotherapy using the standard procedure. Comparative analysis of the effectiveness of the proposed and traditional methods demonstrated the advantage of optimized laserotherapy.

The present placebo-controlled study included 60 patients presenting with chronic urticaria. They were treated by standard methods in combination with phototherapy at a wavelength of 590 nm (yellow spectrum) or without it (control). It is concluded that introduction of phototherapy into combined treatment of chronic urticaria accelerates elimination of clinical symptoms of the disease and improves efficiency of its treatment.

This study was designed to evaluate the efficiency of combined treatment of neurogenic dysfunction of the bladder including its electrical stimulation and therapeutic exercises for the pelvic floor muscles based on the principle of biological feedback in 64 patients aged from 18 to 54 years with hyperactive bladder as a result of traumatic spinal cord injury. The results indicate a significant improvement of the patients' quality of life and restoration of cumulative function of the bladder confirmed by the increased maximum cystometric capacity and the decreased amplitude of maximum involuntary contraction of the detrusor.

Two groups of hospitalized patients with asthenodepressive syndrome of neurotic nature were examined. The patients of group 1 (n = 42) were managed by pharmacotherapy alone, those in group 2 (n = 41) by a combination of pharmaco- and phototherapy. The clinical and psychological status of the patients in both groups was evaluated based on the results of three studies with the use of different questionnaire (scales) carried out before and 20 days after the study. It was shown that inclusion of phototherapy with high-intensity light of the visible spectrum into combined treatment of asthenodepressive syndrome of neurotic nature significantly increases its efficiency and reduces the overall duration of therapy.

Results of biochemical analyses, laser Doppler flowmetry, and psychoemotional evaluation give evidence of the positive influence of hirudotherapy on the functional state of patients with bilateral grade I-III metabolic-dystrophic gonarthrosis.

An overview of the literature concerning medical and social rehabilitation of patients with severe craniocerebral injury is presented. It highlights the pathophysiological and sanitary-hygienic aspects of the early treatment of traumatic brain disease. The role of photochromotherapy in the early rehabilitation of patients in this condition is considered.

Analysis of a large number of published works and original observations allows for the conclusion that application of different types of optical radiation provides an efficacious tool for the treatment of persistent unhealing wounds and ulcers on the lower extremities. The choice of the phototherapeutic modality, the dose and other characteristics of radiation is determined by the phase of the wound process. Optical irradiation can be successfully combined with other forms of therapy including new types of wound coverings. The main advantage of optical irradiation (given the adequate choice of its form) are high efficiency in the absence of serious complications, low cost, and ready availability in practically any health care facility.