Effect of Sensory-Amplitude Electric Stimulation on Motor Recovery and Gait Kinematics After Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Study
Abstract
Yavuzer G, Öken Ö, Atay MB, Stam HJ. Effect of sensory-amplitude electric stimulation on motor recovery and gait kinematics after stroke: a randomized controlled study.
Objective
To evaluate the effects of sensory-amplitude electric stimulation (SES) of the paretic leg on motor recovery and gait kinematics of patients with stroke.
Design
Randomized, controlled, double-blind study.
Setting
Rehabilitation ward and gait laboratory of a university hospital.
Participants
A total of 30 consecutive inpatients with stroke (mean age, 63.2y), all within 6 months poststroke and without volitional ankle dorsiflexion were studied.
Intervention
Both the SES group (n=15) and the placebo group (n=15) participated in a conventional stroke rehabilitation program 5 days a week for 4 weeks. The SES group also received 30 minutes of SES to the paretic leg without muscle contraction 5 days a week for 4 weeks.
Main Outcome Measures
Brunnstrom stages of motor recovery and time-distance and kinematic characteristics of gait.
Results
Brunnstrom stages improved significantly in both groups (P<.05). In total, 58% of the SES group and 56% of the placebo group gained voluntary ankle dorsiflexion. The between-group difference of percentage change was not significant (P>.05). Gait kinematics was improved in both groups, but the between-group difference was not significant.
Conclusions
In our patients with stroke, SES of the paretic leg was not superior to placebo in terms of lower-extremity motor recovery and gait kinematics.
aDepartment of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
bPhysical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinic of Ankara State Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
cErasmus University Medical Center, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Reprint requests to Gunes Yavuzer, MD, PhD, Mustafa Kemal Mahallesi, Barış Sitesi 87. sok No: 24, Ankara 06800, Turkey
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
ABSTRACT