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Evaluation of the internal oblique, external oblique, and transversus abdominalis muscles in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: an ultrasonographic study

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Abstract

The objectives of the study are to compare abdominal muscle thickness in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients with healthy subjects and determine the factors affecting these muscle thickness. Thirty-five male patients with a previous diagnosis of AS according to the Modified New York criteria and a control group consisting of 35 healthy male individuals were included in this cross-sectional and case-control study. Thicknesses of the internal oblique (IO), external oblique (EO), and transversus abdominalis (TrA) muscles were measured with ultrasound (US). AS patients were classified according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). There were 35 AS patients with a mean age of 35.17 ± 8.05 years and 35 healthy subjects with a mean age 32.57 ± 7.05 years. No significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of abdominal muscle thicknesses (p > 0.005). When the AS patients were classified according to the IPAQ scores, thicknesses of the IO and TrA muscles were significantly lower in patients who had the low level of IPAQ scores (p < 0.05). In the light of our first and preliminary results, muscle thickness of the IO, EO, and TrA muscles were similar in AS patients to healthy subjects. However, AS patients who had lower level of physical activity have also reduced thickness of IO and TrA muscles.

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Abbreviations

AS:

Ankylosing spondylitis

IO:

Internal oblique

EO:

External oblique

TrA:

Transversus abdominalis

US:

Ultrasound

BMI:

Body mass index

ESR:

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate

25(OH)D:

25-hyroxyvitamin D

CRP:

C-reactive protein

IPAQ:

The International Physical Activity Questionnaire

ODI:

Oswestry Disability Index

RMDQ:

Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire

GSS:

General self-efficacy scale

SF-36:

Short form-36

PSQI:

Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index

BDI:

Beck depression inventory

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Hamidiye Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

    Ahmet Üşen, Banu Kuran, Figen Yılmaz, Neşe Aksu & Cem Erçalık

  2. Erzurum Bölge Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Atatürk Mahallesi, Çat Yolu Cd., 25070 Palandöken, Yakutiye, Erzurum, Turkey

    Ahmet Üşen

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  1. Ahmet Üşen
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  2. Banu Kuran
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Correspondence to Ahmet Üşen.

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This study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee.

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Üşen, A., Kuran, B., Yılmaz, F. et al. Evaluation of the internal oblique, external oblique, and transversus abdominalis muscles in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: an ultrasonographic study. Clin Rheumatol 36, 2497–2500 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-017-3827-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-017-3827-y

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