Intestinal pseudo-obstruction in inactive systemic lupus erythematosus: An unusual finding

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIP) is an infre-quent complication of an active systemic lupus erythema-tosus (SLE). We illustrate a case of SLE inactive-related CIP. A 51-year old female with inactive SLE (ECLAM score 2) was hospitalized with postprandial fullness, vomiting, abdominal bloating and abdominal pain. She had had no bowel movements for five days. Plain abdominal X-ray revealed multiple fluid levels and dilated small and large bowel loops with air-fluid levels. Intestinal contrast radiology detected dilated loops. CIP was diagnosed. The patient was treated with prokinetics, octreotide, claritromycin, rifaximin, azathioprine and tegaserod without any clinical improvement. Then methylprednisolone (500 mg iv daily) was started. After the first administration, the patient showed peristaltic movements. A bowel movement was reported after the second administration. A plain abdominal X-ray revealed no air-fluid levels. Steroid therapy was slowly reduced with complete resolution of the symptoms. The patient is still in a good clinical condition. SLE-related CIP is generally reported as a complication of an active disease. In our case, CIP was the only clinical demonstration of the SLE.

A combination therapy of massage and stretching increases parasympathetic nervous activity and improves joint mobility in patients affected by fibromyalgia

Objective: to investigate how therapeutic mas-sage, combined with stretching, can really con-tribute to the treatment of fibromyalgia (FM) symptoms. Design: Feasibility study. Setting: A single center. Participants: Twenty women having a preexisting diagnosis of FM based on American College of Rheumatology criteria were recruited. Intervention: Subjects received a total of 18 sessions of light massage administered by a physical therapist twice a week and then performed passive stretching exercises. Main out-come measures: heart rate (HR) and Heart Rate variability (HRV), the assessment of joint flexi-bility through elettrogoniometer, the Fibromyal-gia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Borg scale or Rating of Perceived exertion (RPE). Evalua-tions were conducted at the screening visit (T0), immediately at the end of the session of mas-sage (T1) and after completion of 18 sessions (T2). Results: HRV showed an improvement in terms of decreased sympathetic tone and in-crease of parasympathetic tone at the end of treatment. Also joint flexibility showed a sig-nificant improvement at T2 compared with the screening. FIQ, PSQI, RPE did not change. Conclusions: the findings highlight the excellent compliance of FM patients to the combined therapy of massage and stretching, showing an amelioration of muscle stiffness and an improvement of autonomic nervous system with a decrease of sympathetic tone and an increase of parasympathetic tone. The questionnaires did not show any ameliorations, probably because in these patients the perception of quality of life is distorted compared with more objective pa-rameters, such as muscle rigidity, the articular mobility and the autonomic nervous system.