Improving Hand Function in Stroke Survivors: A Pilot Study of Contralaterally Controlled Functional Electric Stimulation in Chronic Hemiplegia

14 years. But further research is needed to get results to continue past 3 months.

Do you prefer your  incompetence NOT KNOWING? OR NOT DOING?

Oops, I'm not playing by the polite rules of Dale Carnegie,  'How to Win Friends and Influence People'. 

Politeness will never solve anything in stroke. Yes, I'm a bomb thrower and proud of it. Someday a stroke 'leader' will ream me out for making them look bad by being truthful , I look forward to that day.

Improving Hand Function in Stroke Survivors: A Pilot Study of Contralaterally Controlled Functional Electric Stimulation in Chronic Hemiplegia

Volume 88, Issue 4, April 2007, Pages 513-520

Author links open overlay panelJayme S.KnutsonPhD^a

Mary Y.HarleyOT^cTerri Z.HiselOT^cJohnChaeMD^abc

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2007.01.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Knutson JS, Harley MY, Hisel TZ, Chae J. Improving hand function in stroke survivors: a pilot study of contralaterally controlled functional electric stimulation in chronic hemiplegia.

Objective

To assess the feasibility of a new stroke rehabilitation therapy for the hemiparetic hand.

Design

Case series. Pre- and postintervention assessment with 1- and 3-month follow-ups.

Setting

Clinical research laboratory of a large public hospital.

Participants

Three subjects with chronic (>6mo postcerebrovascular accident) upper-extremity hemiplegia.

Intervention

Subjects used an electric stimulator to cause the paretic hand extensor muscles to contract and thereby open the hand. Subjects controlled the intensity of the stimulation, and thus the degree of hand opening, by volitionally opening the unimpaired contralateral hand, which was detected by an instrumented glove. For 6 weeks, subjects used the stimulator to perform active repetitive hand-opening exercises 2 hours daily at home and functional tasks 1.5 hours twice a week in the laboratory.

Main Outcome Measures

Maximum voluntary finger extension, maximum voluntary isometric finger-extension moment, finger-movement control, and box and block test (BBT) score at pre- and posttreatment and at 1 month and 3 months posttreatment.

Results

Maximum voluntary finger extension increased from baseline to end of treatment and from the end of treatment to 1-month follow-up in 2 subjects. Maximum voluntary isometric finger-extension moment, finger-movement control, and BBT score increased from baseline to the end of treatment and from the end of treatment to 1-month follow-up in all 3 subjects. The improvements generally declined at 3 months.

Conclusions

The results suggest a positive effect on motor impairment, meriting further investigation of the intervention.