Deans' stroke musings: Repetitive Peripheral Sensory Stimulation as an Add-On Intervention for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Stroke: A Randomized Trial

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.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Repetitive Peripheral Sensory Stimulation as an Add-On Intervention for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Stroke: A Randomized Trial

Is this good enough to at least write up a provisional protocol on this?

Repetitive Peripheral Sensory Stimulation as an Add-On Intervention for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Stroke: A Randomized Trial

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Adriana B. Conforto

, André G. Machado, Nathalia H. V. Ribeiro, ...

First Published September 29, 2021 Research Article Find in PubMed

Abstract

Introduction

Repetitive peripheral sensory stimulation (RPSS) followed by 4-hour task-specific training (TST) improves upper limb motor function in subjects with stroke who experience moderate to severe motor upper limb impairments. Here, we compared effects of RPSS vs sham followed by a shorter duration of training in subjects with moderate to severe motor impairments in the chronic phase after stroke.

Methods

This single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial compared effects of 18 sessions of either 1.5 h of active RPSS or sham followed by a supervised session that included 45 min of TST of the paretic upper limb. In both groups, subjects were instructed to perform functional tasks at home, without supervision. The primary outcome measure was the Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT) after 6 weeks of treatment. Grasp and pinch strength were secondary outcomes.

Results

In intention-to-treat analysis, WMFT improved significantly in both active and sham groups at 3 and 6 weeks of treatment. Grasp strength improved significantly in the active, but not in the sham group, at 3 and 6 weeks. Pinch strength improved significantly in both groups at 3 weeks, and only in the active group at 6 weeks.

Conclusions

The between-group difference in changes in WMFT was not statistically significant. Despite the short duration of supervised treatment, WMFT improved significantly in subjects treated with RPSS or sham. These findings are relevant to settings that impose constraints in duration of direct contact between therapists and patients. In addition, RPSS led to significant gains in hand strength.

Trial Registry Name: Peripheral Nerve Stimulation and Motor Training in Stroke Clinical Trials.gov identifier: NCT0265878 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02658578

Keywords

upper extremity, cerebrovascular accident, rehabilitation, sensory, neuromodulation