TDP is a physiotherapy instrument invented in China in the 1980s. TDP is short for the Chinese Pinyin “
A total of 34 cases are included in this study (27 males and 7 females). The mean age is 51.31±12.168 years in the treatment group and 51.23±11.994 years in the control group. The difference in the two groups by age, sex, body mass index, and diagnosis was not statistically significant (
The patients who adopted traditional lumbar operation were included in this study. Exclusion criteria are as follows: (1) conservative treatment, (2) minimally invasive surgery treatment, (3) cervical operation or bone operation, and (4) speech and communication disorders.
Conventional treatment and nursing were applied to both groups. TDP irradiation treatment begins on the third postoperative day (Hua lun brand, cqi-25; Chongqing, China). The TDP irradiation duration is 20 minutes in the treatment group and 30 minutes in the control group; both were employed after preheating. The treatment was conducted twice a day, 20–30 cm from the wounds. The incision pain score, time of stitches removal, duration of hospital stays, and patient satisfaction were observed and recorded. A 3-point Likert scale was used to judge the degrees of patient’s satisfaction, where 3=satisfaction, 2=basic satisfaction, and 1=dissatisfaction. Open-ended questions were used to obtain subjective experience. An example of the question is “How are you feeling after the TDP irradiation treatment?”
The incision pain score was judged combined with verbal descriptor scale, visual analog score, and face pain scale.6 In the face pain scale, 0–10 presents the pain degree: 0–3 for mild pain, 4–6 for moderate pain, and 7–10 for severe pain. The scores were recorded before the first treatment and after the last treatment.
SPSS 18.0 was adopted for data analysis. The mean ± standard deviation was used for description, and paired
The figures indicate the incision pain scores, the time of stitches removal, and the duration of hospital stays between the treatment group and the control group. The detailed data are given in Table 1.
Comparison of the scores of incision pain score between the two groups (d, mean±SD).
Group | Before irradiation | After irradiation | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Treatment group | 3.06±0.899 | 1.35±0.493 | 6.720 | 0.000 |
Control group | 2.46±1.127 | 1.0±0.707 | 6.008 | 0.000 |
1.251 | 1.594 | |||
0.235 | 0.137 |
According to the above data, a significant difference was found before and after TDP irradiation between the 2 groups (
Comparison of the index of the time of stitches removal and the duration of hospital stays between the two groups (d, mean±SD).
Index | Treatment group | Control group | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time of stitches removal | 14.85± 4.079 | 14.08± 0.641 | 0.669 | 0.516 | |
Duration of hospital stays | 19.08± 6.652 | 23.15± 10.723 | −1.113 | 0.287 |
No significant difference was found in the time of stitches removal and the duration of hospital stays between the treatment group and the control group (
The patient satisfaction degree score of the treatment group was 2.77±0.439, whereas that of the control group was 2.08±0.954 (
TDP, known as “god’s lantern,” was invented in Chongqing, Western China. TDP had won the gold award in the International Spring Fair in 1986 in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, and the “Eureka” World Expo silver inventors in the same year. Its products are sold to more than 50 countries and regions of the world. TDP composite coating plate contains over 30 sorts of essential elements of the human body. TDP turns electrical energy into thermal energy, generating an integrated electromagnetic wave of different wavelengths and energies. The wavelength range (2–25
Incision healing is prone to infection particularly after orthopedic operation. Inadequate drainage postoperation leads to incision ecchymosed; the main reasons are the surgical technique used, body’s rejection of foreign materials, diabetes, obese, and use of immunosuppressants or hormones. The use of bone bonding interbody space and metal biomaterial enter the local tissue, thus declining the immune response and heightening the risk of infection.2, 8, 9 TDP has been widely used to help in incision healing after orthopedic operation. Despite its low treatment fee (8.8¥/time), it is effective and has no adverse reaction. As mentioned in the result, no significant difference was found between the treatment group and the control group in incision pain score, time of stitches removal, and duration of hospital stays. However, the treatment group is superior to the control group in terms of patient satisfaction. This result prompted that longer irradiation period is no longer regarded as the better treatment.
Lumbar vertebrates play an important part in bearing. Patients who accepted traditional lumbar surgery have difficulty in turning over by themselves because of the strong feeling of pain at the early stage posttreatment. Thus, they cannot lie on one side for a long time. Hence, 20 minutes of irradiation is recommended after traditional lumbar surgery, and the duration time may be extended to 30 minutes for people who take conservative treatment in the cases of lumbocrural pain. Climate is a considerable factor. The TDP irradiation duration may be adjusted based on the patient’s disease and pain tolerance.