This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1545968308317577v1 23/1/17    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Knutson, J. S. Articles by Chae, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Knutson, J. S. Articles by Chae, J. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Stroke Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

A Novel Functional Electrical Stimulation Treatment for Recovery of Hand Function in Hemiplegia: 12-Week Pilot Study

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jsk12{at}case.edu.

	Abstract

Background. Loss of finger extension is common after stroke and can severely limit hand function. Contralaterally controlled functional electrical stimulation (CCFES) is a new treatment aimed at restoring volitional finger and thumb extension. A previous pilot study showed reductions in hand impairment after 6 weeks of CCFES, but the effect did not persist after end of treatment. Objective. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of achieving greater and more persistent gains with CCFES by increasing the treatment period to 12 weeks. Methods. CCFES uses neuromuscular electrical stimulation to open the paretic hand in direct proportion to the degree of volitional opening of the unimpaired contralateral hand, which is detected by an instrumented glove. Three subjects with chronic hemiplegia participated in a 12-week CCFES treatment, which consisted of daily CCFES-assisted active repetitive hand-opening exercises and twice weekly functional task practice with CCFES. Results. Maximum voluntary finger extension increased by 101° and 68° for subjects 1 and 2, respectively, but subject 3 had no improvement in finger extension. Box and Block score increased by 6, 15, and 7 blocks, and upper extremity Fugl-Meyer score increased by 11, 15, and 7 points for subjects 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The finger extension gains declined at the 1-month and 3-month follow-up for subjects 1 and 2, but the gains in Box and Block and Fugl-Meyer scores persisted at follow-up. Conclusions. Greater reductions in hand impairment were achieved by extending the treatment period. The effect and its longevity may be related to baseline impairment level.

First published on September 23, 2008, doi:10.1177/1545968308317577

Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 2009;23:17.

A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2009


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?