BACKGROUND:The suboccipital muscle complex critically contributes to upper cervical biomechanics and proprioceptive regulation of head posture; however, the comprehensive morphometric characterization and prevalence of its anatomical variants remain poorly defined. OBJECTIVES:This study aimed to evaluate the morphometric characteristics and variations of the suboccipital muscles, assess their symmetry, and determine prevalence of anatomical variations with potential clinical significance. DESIGN:A cross-sectional cadaveric study. METHOD:This study was conducted on 27 cadaveric heads preserved in formalin-alcohol-phenol solution. The suboccipital muscles were dissected to expose the anatomical structures. Morphometric measurements were performed using a digital caliper. Symmetry between the left and right sides was analyzed for each muscle. The presence of anatomical variations such as bifid structures, accessory fibers, and atlantomastoid muscles was recorded. RESULTS:Bilateral variations in RCPmi were observed in 11.11 % of the cadavers, while a unilateral variation in OCi was identified in 3.7 % of cases. The atlantomastoid muscle was present in 11.11 % of the specimens. No significant differences were observed in the morphometric data of the muscles on the right and left sides; all were symmetrical. No variations were observed in OCs. CONCLUSIONS:This study provides essential anatomical insights into the prevalence of suboccipital muscle variations, particularly in RCPmi and RCPma, which could influence clinical procedures such as dry needling and electromyography (EMG). The findings emphasize the importance of anatomical knowledge in preventing procedural complications. Future studies with larger sample sizes and functional analyses are needed to further explore the clinical impact of these variations.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and use of traditional and complementary medicine among medical students. Methods: The study was conducted among 160 (80 females, 80 males) medical students who are studying in their last year of Medical School at Trakya University. The questionnaire used for the study consists of 3 sections and 19 questions. The data collected provided the following: an overview of the study groups, students' general perceptions and knowledge of traditional and complementary medicine, and a comparison of students' knowledge, attitudes, and use of traditional and complementary medicine. Results: One hundred and sixty questionnaires were filled and returned. Traditional and complementary medicine was performed on 47 (29.4%) (22 men, 25 women) of the 160 students who participated in this study. The most well-known traditional and complementary medicine methods among medical students were acupuncture, ozone therapy, and mesotherapy. The majority of students had positive attitudes toward traditional and complementary medicine and acknowledged its potential benefits, but reported limited knowledge of the subject. Conclusion: Utilization of traditional and complementary medicine was relatively low among students, as the majority of students relied on mainstream medicine for their health needs. These findings highlight the need for increased education and training in traditional and complementary medicine for medical students to ensure that they can address the health needs of patients who use traditional and complementary medicine. Keywords: complementary medicine, medical students, questionnaire, traditional medicine

Objective:We aimed to evaluate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at ST36 and BL20 on the testicular tissues in a rat model of diabetes and to explore the mechanisms of action.Methods:A total of 34 male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated to a control group (n = 10), diabetes (D) group (n = 12) or diabetes + acupuncture (DA) group (n = 12). To model diabetes, rats in groups D and DA received an intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of 35 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) dissolved in citrate buffer (pH = 4.5; 0.1 M) after 2 weeks of high-fat diet administration. Under xylazine/ketamine anesthesia, stainless steel needles (30 mm × 0.25 mm) were inserted bilaterally at ST36 and BL20. The needles were connected to an EA device via cables, and EA was applied for 30 min (15 Hz frequency and 0.2–1 mA intensity) twice a week for 5 weeks.Results:The effects of EA at ST36 and BL20 on blood glucose levels and body weight, biochemical parameters, histopathological, morphometric and immunohistochemical findings, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) analysis were evaluated. A significant decrease was detected in DA versus D groups in blood glucose levels, basement membrane thickness and apoptotic cell/tubule indices. In addition, there was a significant increase in the Johnsen scores, seminiferous tubule diameters, serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone, proliferation indices, and sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) and insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3) immunoreactivities.Conclusion:EA had multiple positive effects on blood glucose homeostasis and testicular structure/function in this rat model of diabetes. EA may be effective at preventing or eliminating histopathological damage in the diabetic testis.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare the views of physiotherapists with and without training in manual therapy on undergraduate anatomy instruction and to examine the influence of manual therapy training on their views. Methods: The study was conducted among 178 (119 females, 59 males) physiotherapists who graduated from Trakya University between 2018 and 2021. The questionnaire used for the study consists of 3 sections and 39 questions. Results: One hundred seventy-eight questionnaires were completely filled and returned (55% response rate). Most of the training completed by physiotherapists is referred to as manual therapy. The results show that 87 (48.9%) postgraduate physiotherapists received training in manual therapy and 91 (51.1%) postgraduate physiotherapists did not receive training in manual therapy. 96.6% of physiotherapists indicated that training on cadavers increased their interest in anatomy, and 78.7% indicated that examining cadaver parts was the most effective way to learn anatomy. Conclusion: No significant differences were found between the responses of physiotherapists who had received manual therapy training and those of physical therapists who had not, except for responses to the statement "After my anatomy education, I can easily find anatomical formations and points on myself or another person." Keywords: physiotherapists, anatomy, education, manual therapies

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the intra-observer and inter-observer reliability of nine tests used for predicting the presence of palmaris longus muscle. Methods: Three observers tested the presence of palmaris longus muscle three different times on each of the 52 subjects’ right and left wrists. The interobserver agreement was evaluated using Cohen’s Kappa statistics. And the intraobserver agreement was evaluated using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient. Results: Inter-observer agreements, defined by kappa, varied from 0.293 (slight) to 0.687 (substantial) (p<0.001 for all), while intra-observer agreements varied from 0.691(substantial) to 0.885 (almost perfect) (p<0.001 for all). Conclusions: Many of the current tests used for determining the presence of palmaris longus tendon have substantial interobserver reliability. As the testing experience of the observers improves, the agreement rates increase too.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental illness triggered by a horrific event that one has either experienced or witnessed. People with PTSD are more likely to suffer from chronic pain than people who have not experienced trauma. The pain associated with PTSD may be caused by changes in the way the body processes pain signals. Auricular chromotherapy is a new treatment method that combines auriculotherapy, chromotherapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) techniques. The purpose of this study was to report on four cases of chronic pain that were successfully treated with auricular chromotherapy.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to emphasize the amount of anatomy courses in the regulation titled, “Traditional and Complementary Medical Implementations” and to make anatomists think of the question who should teach anatomy in traditional and complementary medicine? Methods: The anatomy courses in the standards of education for traditional and complementary therapies organized by the Turkish Republic Ministry of Health were investigated. The number of anatomy courses for teaching complementary medicine without standards of education were taken from the draft regulation for traditional and complementary therapies. Results: Clinical anatomy is the practical application of anatomical knowledge to diagnosis and treatment. Up to date, there is no regulation defining who is authorized to give anatomy lectures in the workshops or courses permitted by the Ministry of Health of Turkey. It was seen that, theoretically, any health practitioner in workshops could give anatomy lectures. Conclusion: Anatomists are experts of the structure and relationship of all parts of the body. A great number of anatomists are practicing traditional and complementary medicine in Turkey. The anatomists who are qualified in both anatomy and complementary medicine may be the ideal lecturers in the education of these methods.

Auricular acupuncture/auriculotherapy is a treatment based on the detection and stimulation of acupuncture points on the auricle. The embryological hypothesis of ear acupuncture was launched in the 1970’s by Bourdiol of France. All organs develop from the foetus’s three germ layers, the endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm. The ear is one of the few anatomic structures of the human body which is developed from each of these three primary tissue types. The internal organs except for the heart and the kidneys develop from the endoderm. The endodermal organs are represented in the concha and this part of the ear is innervated mainly by the vagus nerve. The skin, endocrine and nervous systems develop from the ectoderm. These organs are represented in the tail of the helix and the lobule. These parts of the ear are innervated mostly by a branch of cervical plexus. The locomotor and lymphatic systems develop from the mesoderm tissue. These organs are to be found represented in the antihelix, the scapha and fossa triangularis of the auricle. The trigeminal nerve innervates these areas on the auricle. In the context of these embryological and anatomical knowledge, auricular acupuncture is described with its clinical implications.

Introduction: The communicating branches between the medial (MPN) and lateral (LPN) plantar nerves aren't frequently observed in relation to the innervation of the foot muscles in previous studies. In this study, the number and localization of the communicating branch on the innervations of foot muscles were evaluated to open a new sight considering the innervations of lumbrical muscles. Material and methods: 30 formalin-fixed feet (15 right-15 left feet), with an average age of 76 from the inventory of Trakya and Mersin University Anatomy Departments in 2015 were dissected. The innervations of the lumbricals and the communicating branches were revealed and then photographed. Results: In all feet, first lumbricals were observed to be innervated by MPN, while the remaining muscles were innervated by deep branches of LPN. In four cadaveric feet, communicating branches of MPN, LPN and deep branch of LPN were appeared but, in one of them, proximal to the branches of MPN and LPN to lumbricals, a communicating branch between MPN and deep branch of LPN were observed. Discussion: Data about the innervations of the lumbricals were found to be consistent with the previous studies. Taking into account the localization of the communicating branches between the MPN and LPN, it should be considered that nerve injuries during surgical procedures such as flexor tendon transfers, island flap surgery, treatment of hallux valgus or lesser toes deformity in the foot and ankle region may unexpectedly lead to different functional failures. (C) 2018 Anatomical Society of India. Published by Elsevier, a division of RELX India, Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Amaç: Kemiğe kan sağlayan a. nutricia'nın seyrettiği foramen nutricium (FN) önemli bir role sahiptir.Bu çalışmada, humerus, radius ve ulna kuru kemiklerinde FN sayısı, konumları ve vertical çapları araştırıldı. Gereç ve yöntem:Trakya Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Anatomi Anabilim Dalı'nda bulunan ve eğitim amaçlı kullanılan 64 humerus, 37 radius ve 26 ulna kuru kemiği üzerinde ölçüm yapıldı.FN yeri, sayısı ve vertical çapları ölçüldü.Kemiğin proksimal ucu ile FN arasındaki mesafenin kemiğin toplam uzunluğuna bölünmesiyle hesaplanan foraminal indeks (FI), FN çapı 0,5 mm'den büyük olan her bir kemik için hesaplandı.Bulgular: Humerus kemiklerinin %81'inde FN'un tek sayıda olduğu görüldü.Humerus kemiklerinin %80'inde FN anteromedial yüzeyde yer almaktaydı.Humerus kemiklerinde FN'nin ortalama vertikal çapı 1,20±0,27 mm ölçüldü ve ortalama FI %55,47 olarak bulundu.Radius kemiklerinde FN'un diğer ölçüm yapılan kemiklere göre daha az olduğu ve anterior yüzeyde bulunduğu görüldü.Radius kemiklerinde FN'nin ortalama vertical çapı 0,98±0,24 mm ölçüldü ve ortalama FI değeri %34,60 olarak bulundu.Ulna kemiklerinin %92'sinde tek FN bulunduğu görüldü ve %89'unda FN kemiğin ön yüzünde yer almaktaydı.Ulna kemiklerinde ortalama vertical FN çapı 1,24±0,32 mm olarak ölçüldü ve ortalama FI değeri %37,16 olarak belirlendi.

The cun measurement system is an essential component of the traditional point location methods used in acu­puncture. This study used the cun system to investigate any variation between the traditional measurements and the sample means for selected finger measurements, and for the forearm length obtained from 110 healthy volun­teer subjects randomly selected from students of the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Health Sciences, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey. This study was conducted in order to determine if finger cun-measurements are consistent with proportional bone methods and to investigate whether both methods can be used to locate acupuncture points in the forearm. The length of the forearm was measured using tape measure. The length of the forearm was compared with 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 finger cuns measured with a digital caliper. Additionally, PC6 and TW5 acupuncture points were found with an acupuncture detector. The distance from the wrist crease to PC6 and TW5 was measured and compared with the measurements obtained from directional and proportional methods. The results showed that 3 cun measured by the directional method was most significantly different from one cun measured by the proportional method. The directional method is likely less dependable in locating PC6 and TW5 acupuncture points than the proportional method.

Locating acupuncture points reliably and reproducibly is a requisite for the accuracy of scientific research of acu­puncture and for assuring the appropriate and effective treatment of patients. Unreliable point location can pro­duce false findings for acupuncture research and clinical practice. The acupuncturists use the one cun measure­ment as well as various lengths and breadths of the fingers in order to locate acupuncture points. The finger-cun measurements are: 1 cun: the width of the interphalangeal joint of the thumb. 1.5 cun: the width of the index and middle finger, measured at the level of the proximal interphalangeal joint of the index finger. 2 cun: the length of the two distal phalanges of the index finger. 3 cun: the width of all four fingers, measured at the level of the proximal interphalangeal joint of the index finger. PC6 and TW5 acupuncture points are 2 cun above the wrist crease anterior and posterior, respectively. There have been several reports on the reliability of traditional acupuncture point location methods. In this study we have investigated the four different finger-cun measurements to provide accurate estimates for contemporary Turkish adults. The PC6 and TW5 points were accurately detected with an acupuncture detector. One cun, 1.5 cun, 2 cun, and 3 cun were measured with a digital caliper. The most frequently used finger-cun measurement to find PC6 or TW5 is the 2-cun method. As a result, the 2-fin­ger cun method is more reliable than the 1-cun method to find these two acupuncture points in Turkish adults.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the relation of Mallampati classification with a new alternative method suggested for use in the estimation of tongue movements.METHODS:This study was conducted in the Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey from April to October 2009. Two hundred and thirty patients were enrolled in this study. The modified Mallampati score (MMS) was devised by an anesthetist. To define tongue movements, horizontal and vertical lines were utilized. Horizontal lines passing through the mid points of the upper lip and mandible, and vertical lines passing through the right and left infraorbital points were constituted on each subject. Subjects were asked to elevate, depress, and abduct (right-left) the tip of the tongue. The scores corresponding with the movements of the tongue were determined.RESULTS:Depression of the tip of the tongue (DTT) and elevation of the tip of the tongue (ETT) levels were significantly different between MMS 1, MMS 2, and MMS 3, MMS 4 groups (p=0.001). The risk of being MMS 3 or MMS 4 for the groups that cannot reach the borderline for the DTT or ETT are 5.5 times and 5.4 times higher consequently than the groups that can reach the borderline.CONCLUSION:This new method can be combined with MMS classification, which requires clinical experience and knowledge in predicting difficult intubation.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to constitute a normative walking kinematic database and to investigate the differences between 7-11 aged children and between the left and right sides of those age groups.Materials and Methods: Fifty children between the 7 and 11 years old (10 from each age group) participated in this study. The measurements were made with Zebris(C) CMS 70 P 3D motion analysis system. Flexion- extension, abduction-adduction angles of the hip joint, the flexion-extension of the knee and ankle joints and foot rotations for each age group for both sides were recorded.Results: Even all the groups' gait patterns were similar with the literature, 9 years old group has lower knee flexion and higher ankle extensions (p<0.05). Eight and 9 years old groups have higher maximum ankle extension values when compared with the other age groups (p<0.05).Conclusion: Kinematic analysis results of 7 to 11 years old children suggests adult-like gait patterns especially for the hip and knee. These findings stress the importance of age-matched normative data for the kinematic gait analysis.

Aim The paraumbilical veins surrounding umbilical vein and running within falciform ligament is of the following three types: Burows veins, Sappeys superior and inferior group veins. Sappey's veins are referred to as accessory portal veins. They form the connection between portal vein and systemic veins. Burows veins terminate in the middle third of umbilical veins and do not enter the intrahepatic portal system directly.Material and MethodsIn this study, the falciform ligament specimens from 20 adult cadavers were used to determine the number and course of paraumbilical veins and to expose its topographic relationship with umbilical vein. The falciform ligament separated into four quadrants and examined.ResultsMean numbers of paraumbilical veins were found 6.65 +/- 2.1 in microscopical examination.ConclusionIn the relevant literature, there is a lack in studies about the quantity of paraumbilical veins and their topographic relation with the umbilical vein. Detailed information on quantitative parameters of paraumbilical veins may prove helpful in determining pathologies of paraumbilical veins and portalsystemic circulation.

Various anomalies of the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) and flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) muscles of the little finger have been reported in the literature. These include many variations of the FDS and FDP, such as absence of the little finger FDS tendon, aplasia of the FDP to the little finger, an accessory FDS to the little finger, doubling of the tendon, attachments to other superficialis tendons or to the profundus tendon, tendon insertion anomalies, and additional muscle slips from the FDS of the ring finger to the FDS of the little finger.1–16 Variations of the FDS have been termed retrogressive or progressive according to the presence of remnants of the connections between two sheets of muscles or the occasional separation (up to the origin point) of individual muscle bellies, respectively.10,14 Furthermore, single-origin (either antebrachial or palmar) and dual-origin (both antebrachial and palmar) hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of the FDS, based on the variations seen, the innervations present, and ontogeny and phylogeny.7,17 A general survey of the literature failed to reveal any case reports similar to ours. Therefore, the purpose of this case study is to describe a muscular variant, which to our knowledge has not previously been identified.