Deans' stroke musings: Evaluation of a dynamic ankle foot orthosis in hemiplegic gait: A case report

Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Evaluation of a dynamic ankle foot orthosis in hemiplegic gait: A case report

Ask your therapist what dynamic means in this context.
http://www.naric.com/research/rehab/record.cfm?search=2&type=all&criteria=J64159&phrase=no&rec=119233
Abstract: Study evaluated the effects of a dynamic ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) on ambulation in post-stroke hemiplegia. A single patient with stroke-related hemiplegia using a dynamic AFO underwent gait analysis while walking on level ground. Outcome measures included temporalspatial gait parameters and bilateral kinematic joint angles at the ankle, knee, and hip with and without AFO. Walking speed, stride length, step length and cadence increased with the dynamic AFO. Step width and double support decreased, while single support remained unchanged on the affected limb with the dynamic AFO. With the dynamic AFO, there was increased hip flexion at foot strike and toe-off, increased hip sagittal plane angular velocity during swing, and decreased abduction. The dynamic AFO had a positive effect on the participant’s overall gait which included improved temporalspatial parameters and gait velocity which is likely due to a decrease in the overall energy cost of walking. Kinematic angles at the hip were most notably affected by brace utilization and this effect should be more fully explored. Further research with a larger sample utilizing dynamic AFOs is indicated to explore the generalizability of these findings and to determine the potential utility of these braces as an alternative to the traditionally prescribed solid AFO.