Can kinesio tape be used as an ankle training method in the rehabilitation of the stroke patients?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of the kinesio tape application to the tibialis anterior on rehabilitation outcomes of the stroke patients. DESIGN AND SETTING: Twenty patients with stroke were allocated into two groups: the first group of ten patients was assigned to receive kinesio tape in addition to the conventional rehabilitation program while a second group of 10 patients was assigned to receive a conventional rehabilitation program only. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The clinical variables and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the forth week. RESULTS: The present study showed that kinesio tape application to the tibialis anterior has significant effects on motor recovery of the lower extremity, spasticity, ambulation capacity, HRQoL and gait compared to the control group and baseline. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that kinesio tape can be used as an ankle training method.

Training postural control and sitting in children with cerebral palsy: Kinesio taping vs. neuromuscular electrical stimulation.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the effects of Kinesio Taping (KT) in addition to neurodevelopmental therapy (NDT) on posture and sitting, and to compare the effects of KT and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES). MATERIALS-METHODS: Seventy-five children were randomized into control, KT, and NMES groups. NDT was applied to all children 4 times a week for 4 weeks. In addition, KT and NMES were applied to KT and NMES groups, respectively. Sitting subset of Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) and kyphosis levels of the groups were analyzed by two way mixed ANOVA. RESULTS: GMFM and kyphosis values improved significantly in all groups (all p < 0.01), yet change levels were more prominent in the KT and NMES groups than the control group. Moreover, NMES group showed better improvement. CONCLUSION: KT or NMES application for four weeks in addition to NDT is effective on improving kyphosis and sitting. Besides, NMES is more effective than KT.

Effects of functional electrical stimulation on trunk control in children with diplegic cerebral palsy.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of FES application on the abdomen-posterior back muscles in children with CP that were enrolled into physical therapy and rehabilitation (PTR) program. METHOD: The study included 55 spastic diplegic children that were hospitalized for rehabilitation. Those with deformities that could disrupt the balance in sitting and cause problems in evaluations were excluded. The patients were randomly divided into two equal groups according to their time of presentation. Thirty-two children completed the study. The control group received PTR program only for 4 weeks. The children in the FES group received PTR in addition to electrical stimulation. Electrical stimulation was applied 5 days a week for 4 weeks to abdomen-posterior back muscles in 30-minute-long sessions. To evaluate the balance in sitting, sitting score of gross motor function measurement (GMFM) and to evaluate the trunk asymmetry in sitting, radiographic measurements were used. Thus, kyphosis, Cobb and sacral angles were measured. RESULTS: The comparisons of the measurements of the two groups before and after the treatment showed that the GMFM sitting score and the sacral angle were statistically significantly increased, and the kyphotic and Cobb angles were statistically significantly decreased. After the treatment, both groups demonstrated an increase in the GMFM score, but the increase in the FES group was statistically significantly higher than that in the control group. With respect to radiological measurements, the changes observed in both the kyphotic and Cobb angles after the treatment were statistically significantly higher in the FES group than in the control group. The rates of the changes in the sacral angle did not differ among the groups. CONCLUSION: We believe to provide balance in sitting for children with CP, FES applied on abdomen-back muscles along with conventional therapy to maintain trunk control is more effective than conventional therapy alone.

The effect of electromyographic biofeedback treatment in improving upper extremity functioning of patients with hemiplegic stroke.

This study evaluated the effect of electromyographic biofeedback (EMG-BF) treatment on wrist flexor muscle spasticity, upper extremity motor function, and ability to perform activities of daily living in patients with hemiplegia following stroke. A total of 40 patients were enrolled and were randomly assigned to two groups: a group treated with EMG-BF (study group) and a untreated (control) group. Both groups participated in a hemiplegia rehabilitation program consisting of neurodevelopmental and conventional methods and verbal encouragement to "relax" spastic wrist flexor muscles. In addition, the study group received 3 weeks of EMG-BF treatment, 5 times a week, for 20 minutes per session at hemiplegic side wrist flexors. Clinical findings were assessed before and after rehabilitation using the Ashworth scale (AS), Brunnstrom's stage (BS) of recovery for hemiplegic arm and hand, the upper extremity function test (UEFT), the wrist and hand portion of the Fugl-Meyer scale (FMS), goniometric measurements of wrist extension, surface EMG potentials, and the Barthel Index (BI). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, sex, systemic disease, and the etiology, side, and duration of hemiplegia. There also was no statistically significant difference in the pretreatment values between two groups. We found statistically significant improvements posttreatment in the AS, BS, UEFT, goniometric measurements of wrist extension, and surface EMG potentials in the study group. We also noted statistically significant differences in the wrist and hand portion of the FMS and the BI in both groups, but with significantly greater improvements in the study group. Our findings indicate a positive effect of EMG-BF treatment in conjunction with neurodevelopmental and conventional methods in hemiplegia rehabilitation.

The effectiveness of functional electrical stimulation for the treatment of shoulder subluxation and shoulder pain in hemiplegic patients: A randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of functional electrical stimulation (FES) for the treatment of shoulder subluxation and shoulder pain in hemiplegic patients. METHOD: A total of 50 hemiplegic patients with shoulder subluxation and shoulder pain were included in the study. The patients were randomly divided into the study and control groups. All patients were put on a rehabilitation program using conventional methods while the study group patients were additionally applied FES to supraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles. The shoulder pain of all patients during resting, passive range of motion (PROM) and active range of motion (AROM) was measured with the visual analog scale (VAS) while the shoulder subluxation levels were evaluated with the classification developed by Van Langenberghe and by using the millimetric measurements on anteroposterior shoulder X-ray before and after the physical treatment and rehabilitation program and compared. RESULTS: Comparison of the resting AROM vs. PROM VAS value changes showed no significant difference between the groups. There was a significant difference between the two groups for the amount of change in shoulder subluxation in favor of the study group. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study have shown that applying FES treatment to the supraspinatus and posterior deltoid muscles in addition to conventional treatment when treating the subluxation in hemiplegic patients is more beneficial than conventional treatment by itself.