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Supplemented amino acids may enhance the walking recovery of elderly subjects after hip fracture surgery

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether supplemented essential amino acids (EAAs) could enhance rehabilitation therapy (Rehab) for recovery of walking capacity in subjects after hip fracture surgery (HFS). Eighty-three elderly subjects with HFS (20 ± 11 days after acute trauma) were eligible for the study and randomized to receive Rehab only (Rehab; n = 27), Rehab + placebo (RP; n = 28) or Rehab + EAAs (RE 8 g/day; n = 28). The patients’ walking capacity (m) was measured by 6-min walking distance (6MWD) at admission and at discharge (median 66 days after admission). All patient groups were treated with the same Rehab (2 sessions/day × 5 days/week). The results showed that the gain in 6MWD was higher in RE than in Rehab and RP (p = 0.034; p = 0.024). The study shows that EAA supplementation can enhance walking recovery rate in subjects with HFS.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Robert Coates (Centro Linguistico, Bocconi University, P. zale Sarfatti, Milano, Italy), medical writer and editor, for his linguistic revision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie Università degli Studi di Pavia, Via Ferrata, 1, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Roberto Aquilani & Manuela Verri

  2. Istituto Geriatrico P. Redaelli -Reparti di Riabilitazione Geriatrica e di Mantenimento, Via Leopardi, 3, 20090, Vimodrone, Milano, Italy

    Carlo Zuccarelli Ginetto, Carla Rutili & Pietro Pisano

  3. Divisione di Riabilitazione Cardiologica, Centro Medico di Lumezzane, Istituti Clinici Scientifici “Maugeri”, IRCCS, Via G. Mazzini, 129, 25065, Lumezzane, BS, Italy

    Evasio Pasini

  4. Dipartimento di Medicina Fisica e Riabilitativa, Centro Medico di Nervi, Istituti Clinici Scientifici “Maugeri”, IRCCS, Via Missolungi 14, 16167, Nervi, GE, Italy

    Eleonora Baldissarro

  5. Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Viale Taramelli, 14, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Federica Boschi

Authors
  1. Roberto Aquilani
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  2. Carlo Zuccarelli Ginetto
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  3. Carla Rutili
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  4. Pietro Pisano
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  5. Evasio Pasini
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  6. Eleonora Baldissarro
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  7. Manuela Verri
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  8. Federica Boschi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Federica Boschi.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the scientific ethics committee of the institute (Direzione Generale/Atti/2008/FF/R002/13.2.2008).

Informed consent

All subjects gave their informed written consent.

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Aquilani, R., Zuccarelli Ginetto, C., Rutili, C. et al. Supplemented amino acids may enhance the walking recovery of elderly subjects after hip fracture surgery. Aging Clin Exp Res 31, 157–160 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-0941-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-0941-x

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