Objective To compare the effectiveness of botulinum toxin type A ( BTXA) and ethyl alcohol ( EA) in treating lower extremity spasticity after stroke. Methods This was a randomized, case-control study. A to-tal of 92 eligible stroke survivors completed the study. They were randomly divided into a BTXA group of 48 and an EA group of 44 according to a random number table. The gastrocnemius, soleus and posterior tibial muscles of the af-fected limb were chosen as injection sites. The BTXA group was injected with 50 to 200 IU of BTXA ( at 50 U/ml) at one to four sites in each muscle, with a total injection dose of less than 600 U. The EA group was injected with less than 10 ml of 50% EA (0.1 to 0.5 ml at each site). Before and 2, 4 and 12 weeks after the injection, both groups were evaluated using the modified Ashworth scale (MAS), a 3 m timed up and go test (TUG), a timed 10 meter walk ( 10m-WT) and each was asked to assess their pain level using a visual analogue scale ( VAS) . Any adverse re-actions were also observed. Results Two weeks after the injection, the average MAS score of both groups had im-proved significantly compared to that before the injection. The average improvement in the BTXA group was signifi-cantly less than in the EA group. No significant differences were found in other measurements. After four weeks the average MAS score of the BTXA group was still significantly different from that before injection or from 2 weeks previ-ously, but the EA group now showed no significant difference from before the injection. The average TUG, 10m-WT and VAS scores of both groups had improved significantly compared to those of the earlier time points. Twelve weeks after the injection, the average MAS, TUG, 10m-WT and VAS scores of the BTXA were still significantly improved compared to before the injection, but in the EA group only the average score VAS reading was significantly improved. There were then significant differences between the two groups in all of the measurements. Conclusions Both BTXA and EA can relieve muscle spasticity. Both take effect within 2 weeks, but the former has fewer side effects than the latter and a longer duration of therapeutic effect.

Objective:To compare the embrace fixation and screw fixation in the treatment of inferior tibiofibular syndesmosis injury.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted of the 125 patients who had been treated for ankle fractures and distal syndesmotic injuries at The Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University from April 2018 to September 2021. They were 79 males and 46 females with an age of (25.4±11.2) years. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to their fixation methods: an observation group of 75 cases subjected to embrace fixation and a control group of 50 cases subjected to conventional screw fixation. Their reduction was evaluated by comparing the disparities between the affected and normal sides in the anterior and posterior syndesmotic distances, fibular translation distance, and fibular rotation angle between the 2 groups after surgery. Intraoperative immobilization time for the inferior tibiofibular syndesmosis, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score, Olerud-Molander ankle function score, and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain were also compared at the last follow-up between the 2 groups.Results:There was no statistically significant difference in the preoperative baseline data between the 2 groups of patients, indicating comparability ( P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in intraoperative immobilization time for the inferior tibiofibular syndesmosis, disparity between the injured and normal sides in postoperative fibular translation distance, or VAS pain score at the last follow-up ( P>0.05). The anterior and posterior syndesmotic distances, disparity between the injured and normal sides in fibular rotation angle, AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score, and Olerus-Molander ankle function score in the observation group [0.1 (-0.2, 0.3) mm, 0.1 (-0.3, 0.5) mm, -0.5 (-1.1, 0.8)°, 96 (93, 100) points, and 95 (90, 100) points] were all significantly better than those in the control group [1.4 (0.6, 2.1) mm, 1.5 (0.9, 2.2) mm, 1.2 (-3.8, 3.7)°, 93 (89, 96) points, and 90 (85, 100) points] (all P<0.05). There was no major complication or nonunion in the observation group. Conclusion:The embrace technique can provide an accurate and effective fixation for the inferior tibiofibular syndesmosis in patients with ankle fracture and lead to better clinical and radiographic outcomes than conventional screw fixation.

China's healthcare payment reform seeks to combine a medical insurance point-system with a global budget.The focus and difficulty in implementing the payment reform is how to make effectively link.On the basis of theoretical analysis,it selects the regions that have implemented the payment by disease under regional total budget and the payment by disease under institutional total budget,and summarizes the synergistic mechanism of total budget and payment by disease,including the strict control of total budget at the regional level,the reasonable setup of the budget or the standard of expected service volume at the institutional level,and the rate fluctuation and discount mechanism for the settlement of excess service;and further sort out the additional incentive mechanism to support innovation and quality enhancement under the background of the total budget and the payment by disease.Lessons can be drawn from the experiences of typical regions to strengthen the synergy between regional budgets,institutional budgets and payment by type of disease,and cautiously deal with the risks of excessive competition and"punching points"that may arise from the regional point method.

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of prostate imaging recurrence reporting (PI-RR) system for detecting local recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP) in prostate cancer (PCa) and to assess the consistency of the PI-RR scores assigned by different seniority radiologists.Methods:This study was a cross-sectional study. A total of 176 PCa patients who underwent multi-parametric MRI (mpMRI) for biochemical recurrence (BCR) after RP from July 2015 to October 2021 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University were retrospectively collected. The mpMRI images were reviewed and the PI-RR scores of the main lesions were assigned independently by six different seniority radiologists (2 junior, 2 senior and 2 expert radiologists). Following the reference standard determined by biopsy pathologic results, follow-up imaging, or prostate specific antigen levels, the patients were divided into two groups: 54 patients with local recurrence and 122 patients without local recurrence. The intraclass correlation coefficient ( ICC) and Kappa test were used to evaluate the consistency of the PI-RR scores by different seniority radiologists. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was employed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the PI-RR scores assessed by different seniority radiologists for detecting local recurrence of PCa after RP. The DeLong test was utilized to compare the areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of different seniority radiologist PI-RR scores and a false discovery rate (FDR) was applied to correct results using the Benjamini and Hochberg method. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated according to the cutoff value of PI-RR score≥3 or 4. Results:The ICC (95% CI) of all different seniority radiologists was 0.70 (0.64-0.76). The Kappa value was 0.528, 0.325 and 0.370 respectively between expert and senior radiologists, expert and junior radiologists, senior and junior radiologists. The AUC (95% CI) of junior, senior, and expert radiologists were separately 0.73 (0.65-0.81), 0.81 (0.74-0.88), and 0.86 (0.80-0.93). The AUC of the expert radiologist PI-RR score was higher than those of senior and junior radiologist PI-RR scores ( Z=2.22, 3.21, FDR P=0.039, 0.003). The PI-RR score of senior radiologist had higher AUC than that of junior radiologist ( Z=2.22, FDR P=0.026). With the PI-RR score of 3 or greater as a cutoff value, the sensitivity of junior, senior and expert radiologists were respectively 0.59, 0.65, and 0.78 and the specificity were 0.82, 0.93, and 0.95. With the PI-RR score of 4 or greater as a cutoff value, the sensitivity of junior, senior and expert radiologists were respectively 0.50, 0.54, and 0.69 and the specificity were 0.88, 0.96 and 0.97. Conclusion:PI-RR score can accurately diagnose local recurrence of PCa after RP. PI-RR score has a moderate inter-reader consistency across different seniority radiologists. And the diagnostic performance is influenced by the experience of radiologists.

China's healthcare payment reform seeks to combine a medical insurance point-system with a global budget.The focus and difficulty in implementing the payment reform is how to make effectively link.On the basis of theoretical analysis,it selects the regions that have implemented the payment by disease under regional total budget and the payment by disease under institutional total budget,and summarizes the synergistic mechanism of total budget and payment by disease,including the strict control of total budget at the regional level,the reasonable setup of the budget or the standard of expected service volume at the institutional level,and the rate fluctuation and discount mechanism for the settlement of excess service;and further sort out the additional incentive mechanism to support innovation and quality enhancement under the background of the total budget and the payment by disease.Lessons can be drawn from the experiences of typical regions to strengthen the synergy between regional budgets,institutional budgets and payment by type of disease,and cautiously deal with the risks of excessive competition and"punching points"that may arise from the regional point method.

China's healthcare payment reform seeks to combine a medical insurance point-system with a global budget.The focus and difficulty in implementing the payment reform is how to make effectively link.On the basis of theoretical analysis,it selects the regions that have implemented the payment by disease under regional total budget and the payment by disease under institutional total budget,and summarizes the synergistic mechanism of total budget and payment by disease,including the strict control of total budget at the regional level,the reasonable setup of the budget or the standard of expected service volume at the institutional level,and the rate fluctuation and discount mechanism for the settlement of excess service;and further sort out the additional incentive mechanism to support innovation and quality enhancement under the background of the total budget and the payment by disease.Lessons can be drawn from the experiences of typical regions to strengthen the synergy between regional budgets,institutional budgets and payment by type of disease,and cautiously deal with the risks of excessive competition and"punching points"that may arise from the regional point method.

China's healthcare payment reform seeks to combine a medical insurance point-system with a global budget.The focus and difficulty in implementing the payment reform is how to make effectively link.On the basis of theoretical analysis,it selects the regions that have implemented the payment by disease under regional total budget and the payment by disease under institutional total budget,and summarizes the synergistic mechanism of total budget and payment by disease,including the strict control of total budget at the regional level,the reasonable setup of the budget or the standard of expected service volume at the institutional level,and the rate fluctuation and discount mechanism for the settlement of excess service;and further sort out the additional incentive mechanism to support innovation and quality enhancement under the background of the total budget and the payment by disease.Lessons can be drawn from the experiences of typical regions to strengthen the synergy between regional budgets,institutional budgets and payment by type of disease,and cautiously deal with the risks of excessive competition and"punching points"that may arise from the regional point method.

China's healthcare payment reform seeks to combine a medical insurance point-system with a global budget.The focus and difficulty in implementing the payment reform is how to make effectively link.On the basis of theoretical analysis,it selects the regions that have implemented the payment by disease under regional total budget and the payment by disease under institutional total budget,and summarizes the synergistic mechanism of total budget and payment by disease,including the strict control of total budget at the regional level,the reasonable setup of the budget or the standard of expected service volume at the institutional level,and the rate fluctuation and discount mechanism for the settlement of excess service;and further sort out the additional incentive mechanism to support innovation and quality enhancement under the background of the total budget and the payment by disease.Lessons can be drawn from the experiences of typical regions to strengthen the synergy between regional budgets,institutional budgets and payment by type of disease,and cautiously deal with the risks of excessive competition and"punching points"that may arise from the regional point method.

China's healthcare payment reform seeks to combine a medical insurance point-system with a global budget.The focus and difficulty in implementing the payment reform is how to make effectively link.On the basis of theoretical analysis,it selects the regions that have implemented the payment by disease under regional total budget and the payment by disease under institutional total budget,and summarizes the synergistic mechanism of total budget and payment by disease,including the strict control of total budget at the regional level,the reasonable setup of the budget or the standard of expected service volume at the institutional level,and the rate fluctuation and discount mechanism for the settlement of excess service;and further sort out the additional incentive mechanism to support innovation and quality enhancement under the background of the total budget and the payment by disease.Lessons can be drawn from the experiences of typical regions to strengthen the synergy between regional budgets,institutional budgets and payment by type of disease,and cautiously deal with the risks of excessive competition and"punching points"that may arise from the regional point method.

China's healthcare payment reform seeks to combine a medical insurance point-system with a global budget.The focus and difficulty in implementing the payment reform is how to make effectively link.On the basis of theoretical analysis,it selects the regions that have implemented the payment by disease under regional total budget and the payment by disease under institutional total budget,and summarizes the synergistic mechanism of total budget and payment by disease,including the strict control of total budget at the regional level,the reasonable setup of the budget or the standard of expected service volume at the institutional level,and the rate fluctuation and discount mechanism for the settlement of excess service;and further sort out the additional incentive mechanism to support innovation and quality enhancement under the background of the total budget and the payment by disease.Lessons can be drawn from the experiences of typical regions to strengthen the synergy between regional budgets,institutional budgets and payment by type of disease,and cautiously deal with the risks of excessive competition and"punching points"that may arise from the regional point method.