scholarly journals Effects of Biaxial Ankle Strengthening on Muscle Efficiency during Gait in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Eun Cho ◽  
Wan-Hee Lee ◽  
Joon-Ho Shin ◽  
Hogene Kim

Abstract Background: Ankle dysfunction in stroke patients is a common but serious cause of balance and gait impairment. However there seldom exists comprehensive paretic ankle training. Thus we investigated the effects of biaxial ankle muscle training (AMT) using visual feedback as a means to improve ankle strength and functional activities in stroke patients. Methods: The study design was a randomized controlled pilot trial with concealed allocation and assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis. Twenty-five patients with stroke under inpatient rehabilitation with difficulty walking (e.g. foot drop), or ankle muscle weakness participated. The experimental group underwent AMT consisting of passive stretching, contraction to match movement, and active-resistive strengthening using visual feedback for 40 minutes per day, 5 times per week for 4 weeks. The control group underwent ankle-related physical therapy including ankle range of motion(ROM) exercises for matched time period. The outcomes were ankle isometric contraction force, Fugl-Meyer lower extremity (FM-L), Berg balance scale (BBS), walking speed, and ankle co-contraction index (CI) during gai. Results: The results showed significant between-group differences for ankle isometric contraction in each direction (P<0.05), FM-L (P<0.01) and stance-phase CI (P<0.05). Post training, the AMT group displayed significant differences in the ankle isometric contraction in each direction (P<0.01), ankle proprioception (P<0.05), and walking speed (P<0.05). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the significant short-term effects of AMT on ankle strength, walking speed, and ankle muscle efficiency in chronic stroke survivors.

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 271
Author(s):  
Dongyun Lee ◽  
Youngsook Bae

The aim of this study is to identify the effectiveness of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) leg Kinesio taping on gait parameters and dynamic balance in chronic stroke patients with foot drop. A total 22 chronic stroke patients were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 11) and control groups (n = 11). All subjects underwent conventional therapy and gait training for 50 min. The experimental group additionally received KT of tibialis anterior muscle (TA) and hamstring muscles according to the PNF pattern. The control group received KT of only TA. The primary outcome measures that the gait parameter are gait velocity, cadence, step length, and stride length. Dynamic balance was measured by the timed up-and-go test (TUG) time and activity-specific balance confidence scale (ABC) as the secondary outcomes. All of the measurements were performed baseline and 24 h after intervention. Our results showed that the experimental group showed significant improvements in gait velocity, cadence, step length, stride length and TUG, and ABC score compared with the control group. We conclude that the short term effect of application of lower-leg KT according to the PNF pattern increased the gait ability and dynamic balance of chronic stroke patients with foot drop.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Paoloni ◽  
Massimiliano Mangone ◽  
Paola Scettri ◽  
Rita Procaccianti ◽  
Antonella Cometa ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Eun Cho ◽  
Joon-Ho Shin ◽  
Hogene Kim

Abstract Background: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of passive biaxial ankle movement training synchronized with electrical stimulation therapy (AMT-EST) on ankle proprioception, ankle strength, balance, and gait in chronic stroke patients. We observed the changes in ankle sensorimotor function after stroke.Methods: Thirty-five stroke patients were randomized to an experimental or control group, and 30 patients completed the trials. The experimental group received AMT-EST on the affected ankle for 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week for 4 weeks, for a total of 20 sessions. The control group received electrical stimulation therapy on the affected ankle. The primary outcome measures were ankle proprioception, passive range of motion, and strength. The secondary outcome measures were balance and gait-related functional abilities.Results: Compared with those in the control group, the participants in the experimental group who received AMT-EST showed significant post-training improvement in ankle proprioception of eversion (P<0.05). The ankle passive range of motion (inversion and eversion), ankle strength (dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, inversion, and eversion), and functional abilities (Fugl–Meyer Assessment, Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go test, Fall Efficacy Scale, and walking speed) significantly improved in the experimental group (P<0.05). Significant group×time interactions were observed in ankle passive range of motion (inversion and eversion), ankle strength (dorsiflexion), and Fugl–Meyer Assessment (P<0.05). All ankle proprioception moderately correlated with ankle passive range of motion (eversion), ankle strength (dorsiflexion and eversion), the Berg Balance Scale, and Fugl–Meyer Assessment (P<0.05).Conclusions: Biaxial AMT-EST effectively increased ankle proprioception, range of motion, strength, and functional abilities in chronic stroke patients. These findings suggest that AMT-EST can be proposed as a novel ankle rehabilitation program for chronic stroke patients with ankle sensorimotor impairment.Trial registration: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at a rehabilitation hospital (NRC-2017-04-035, National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, South Korea) and retrospectively registered at a clinical trial registry on January 31, 2020 (CRIS, KCT0004688, https://cris.nih.go.kr/).


Author(s):  
Reem M. Alwhaibi ◽  
Noha F. Mahmoud ◽  
Mye A. Basheer ◽  
Hoda M. Zakaria ◽  
Mahmoud Y. Elzanaty ◽  
...  

Recovery of lower extremity (LE) function in chronic stroke patients is considered a barrier to community reintegration. An adequate training program is required to improve neural and functional performance of the affected LE in chronic stroke patients. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of somatosensory rehabilitation on neural and functional recovery of LE in stroke patients. Thirty male and female patients were recruited and randomized to equal groups: control group (GI) and intervention group (GII). All patients were matched for age, duration of stroke, and degree of motor impairment of the affected LE. Both groups received standard program of physical therapy in addition to somatosensory rehabilitation for GII. The duration of treatment for both groups was eight consecutive weeks. Outcome measures used were Functional Independent Measure (FIM) and Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG), obtained pre- and post-treatment. A significant improvement was found in the FIM scores of the intervention group (GII), as compared to the control group (GI) (p < 0.001). Additionally, QEEG scores improved within the intervention group post-treatment. QEEG scores did not improve within the control group post-treatment, except for “Cz-AR”, compared to pretreatment, with no significant difference between groups. Adding somatosensory training to standard physical therapy program results in better improvement of neuromuscular control of LE function in chronic stroke patients.


Author(s):  
Juan A. Barios ◽  
Santiago Ezquerro ◽  
Arturo Bertomeu-Motos ◽  
Jose M. Catalan ◽  
Jose M. Sanchez-Aparicio ◽  
...  

Conventional rehabilitation strategies for stroke survivors become difficult when voluntary movements are severely disturbed. Combining passive limb mobilization, robotic devices and EEG-based brain-computer interfaces (BCI) systems might improve treatment and clinical follow-up of these patients, but detailed knowledge of neurophysiological mechanisms involved in functional recovery, which might help for tailoring stroke treatment strategies, is lacking. Movement-related EEG changes (EEG event-related desynchronization (ERD) in [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] bands, an indicator of motor cortex activation traditionally used for BCI systems), were evaluated in a group of 23 paralyzed chronic stroke patients in two unilateral motor tasks alternating paretic and healthy hands ((i) passive movement, using a hand exoskeleton, and (ii) voluntary movement), and compared to nine healthy subjects. In tasks using unaffected hand, we observed an increase of contralesional hemisphere activation for stroke patients group. Unexpectedly, when using paralyzed hand, motor cortex activation was reduced or absent in severely affected group of patients, while patients with moderate motor deficit showed an activation greater than control group. Cortical activation was reduced or absent in damaged hemisphere of all the patients in both tasks. Significant differences related to severity of motor deficit were found in the time course of [Formula: see text] bands power ratio in EEG of contralesional hemisphere while moving affected hand. These findings suggest the presence of different compensation mechanisms in contralesional hemisphere of stroke patients related to the grade of motor disability, that might turn quantitative EEG during a movement task, obtained from a BCI system controlling a robotic device included in a rehabilitation task, into a valuable tool for monitoring clinical progression, evaluating recovery, and tailoring treatment of stroke patients.


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